Crime & Safety

Ladue School Chief Says Instagram Is Turning Over Account Records

Ladue police are continuing the investigation into bullying of Ladue Middle School students by someone using an Instagram photo-sharing account.

In an update to members of the Ladue School Board this week, acting superintendant Judy Sclair said the photo-sharing service Instagram had agreed to turn over account information to the Ladue police as part of an investigation into online bullying of students at Ladue Middle School.

The case involves a series of photos of children with derogatory comments circulating on the social media site.

Sclair, the superintendent for human resources who is the acting superintendant, indicated in the update that the investigation might lead to a grand jury review, but that any resolution could take at least a month as investigators sift through the information.

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"We want to investigate to find out who the culprit is," she told board members this week at their meeting on Monday.

Ladue Police Chief Rich Wooten said he was not aware of any intention to bring the case to a grand jury at this point, indicating that the department does not yet have a suspect.

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"The investigation is still ongoing," he said "Either we come to a resolution with an identification or arrest, or not—and we we'll let the media know."

The case came to light in mid-January when an Instagram account called "Ladue's Ugliest" circulated photos of students and crude comments, many of which were countered by students themselves who spoke out on the social media platform to fight back.

On Jan. 23, another account emerged, with a profile photo of the shooter in last month's deadly school shooting in Newtown, CT. The account said people who had complained to news stations couldn't stop him.

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