Use of Myspace may Violate Restraining Order

If you have a restraining order against someone and that person contact you through the social networking site, Myspace, that person may be held in contempt of court:

In one of the first rulings of its kind, a Staten Island judge has said that a teenage girl could be charged with violating a restraining order by using MySpace.com to reach out to people she was told not to contact.

The girl, Melisa Fernino, 16, of West Brighton, Staten Island, was charged with three counts of criminal contempt in September after she was accused of sending a MySpace “friend request” to Sandra Delgrosso and her two daughters on Aug. 23. The order was put in place after Ms. Fernino made several violent threats against Ms. Delgrosso, who had dated her father, and against her two daughters, said a Staten Island official who insisted on anonymity because the case originated in Family Court, where proceedings are private.

This is good news for those who may have been in an abusive relationship and their abusers try to contact them through Myspace.