EUR: One year in prison for chat room suicide advisor
09 Dec 2008 10:19 PM
PARIS, Dec 8 DPA - A French web surfer who advised a young girl on the internet how to commit suicide has been sentenced to one year in prison, the daily Le Parisien reported on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old resident of the eastern region of Haute-Savoie, identified only as Joel A, was convicted of advising 16-year-old Florence, who lived in western France, how to use morphine to take her own life.
Florence's body was found on September 5, 2005, in a forest near her home in Brittany. Her parents then examined her computer and discovered traces of her chat room exchanges with Joel.
Florence had asked Joel if he knew a painless way to commit suicide. Joel, who had considered taking his own life, recommended morphine and instructed the teenager on how and where to take it.
The court in the western city of Guingamp convicted Joel A of failure to come to the aid of a person in danger, but acquitted him of incitement to suicide.
