Principal Sues Former Students Over Fake MySpace Page

HERMITAGE, Pa. (AP) - April 6, 2007 -- A school principal has filed suit against four former students over parody profiles that were posted on an Internet social networking site.

Eric W. Trosch, who had been co-principal of Hickory High School, alleges that the three MySpace.com profiles created in December 2005 damaged his reputation, humiliated him and impaired his earning capacity. The suit filed in Mercer County court seeks unspecified punitive damages.

Among the defendants is Justin Layshock, who in a federal lawsuit acknowledged creating a MySpace profile of Trosch. Layshock, then a senior, was suspended and sent to an alternative program.

Layshock and his parents, who are being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, earlier sued Trosch, Hermitage School District and other school officials. They say the profile was protected by the First Amendment and that Layshock's punishment violated his rights.

Layshock's father, Donald, said he could not comment on Trosch's lawsuit because of their pending federal lawsuit.

Trosch's attorney, John E. Quinn, said Trosch felt the MySpace profiles "went far and beyond what you would see on a bathroom wall in a school." Trosch, now principal of the Hermitage Middle School, declined to comment.

A fourth Myspace profile, which Quinn said was "the most graphic and lurid of them all," was created, but authorities do not know who created it.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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