Four families whose daughters were sexually assaulted by predators they met on popular internet social network MySpace sued owner News Corp this week for negligence and fraud, the lawyers representing the families said in a statement.
The families, from New York, Texas, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, filed suits in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday. The suits involve five girls, ranging in age from 14 to 15 years old, who the lawyers said were lured to meet with older MySpace members and sexually assaulted.
One 15-year-old girl was drugged and assaulted in 2006 by an older MySpace user, the lawyers said. The user pleaded guilty to sexual assault and is serving a 10-year sentence, they said.
Last year, the parents of a 14-year-old girl in Austin, Texas, sued MySpace for $US30 million after she was sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old man she met on the network.
"In our view, MySpace waited entirely too long to attempt to institute meaningful security measures that effectively increase the safety of their underage users," Jason Itkin, an lawyer at law firm Arnold & Itkin LLP, which is representing the families, said in a statement.
