Principal Sues Ex-Students Over Myspace Profiles

A high school principal has sued four former students claiming they created fake Myspace profiles portraying him as a drug and alcohol addict, among other things.

Eric Trosch was principal at Hickory High School in Hermitage, Penn. At the time the profiles were put up on Myspace, a popular social networking site. Trosch claims that the students committed defamation by posting three profiles with his name, showing him to be a pot smoker, alcohol abuser, and pornography lover.

The suit, filed last month in civil court, claims that the profiles showed a host of "unsubstantiated allegations, derogatory comments and false statements" about him.

Each of the Myspace profiles were put up within one week in December 2005 and were removed within days after school officials contacted Myspace.com. Trosch is now principal at Hermitage Middle School.

One one of the profiles, which the suit claims was created by student Thomas Cooper, listed an unnamed pornographic movie as Trosch's favorite film, according to Trosch.

Another profile, allegedly posted by students Christopher and Brendan Gebhart, claimed that Trosch "liked to have sex with students and brutalize women."

The third profile, allegedly posted by student Justin Layshock, said that he "kept a keg of beer behind his desk at school, was on steroids, and smoked marijuana," the court complaint said.

The third posting is already the subject of a federal lawsuit that has been going through the courts since early last year.

At the time, Layshock was a 17 year old Hickory High School Senior with a 3.3 GPA. His parents sued Trosch and the Hermitage school district because of the school's response to the incident. The response included suspending him from school and putting him in an alternative education program that his parents said prevented him from progressing with his normal coursework.

The suit argues that the school's actions were excessive and violated Layshock's First Amendment rights to free speech. It also argued that it interfered with his parents' freedom to choose house to raise and educate their son.