Judge restores Heather Wyatt’s social media accounts, wants child welfare investigation

Chancery Court Judge Mark Maples on Thursday afternoon reinstated the social media accounts of Heather Wyatt of Ocean Springs, who believes her 13-year-old daughter Aubreigh Wyatt was bullied into suicide .

During a hearing in Pascagoula, Maples also requested that Child Protective Services investigate the safety of all minor children involved, including Wyatt’s daughter, 16, and son, 7, and the teenage girls accused of bullying Aubreigh. The results are to be turned over to the Jackson County Youth Court’s Intake Unit.

Maples also unsealed the court file in the case, which he had closed to protect the minor girls accused of bullying. Their identifies, he noted, have already been leaked on social media . The Sun Herald was allowed to attend the hearing after the media company filed an objection to the court file being sealed.

Maples’ orders came in a lawsuit filed by the parents of the four girls. The parents filed the lawsuit in April to prevent Heather Wyatt from spreading any negative messages about their minor children on social media.

The case has gained national attention, with The Washington Post noting that it pitted Wyatt’s free speech rights “against the privacy and safety” of the four girls.

After online threats and harassment against the girls escalated, Maples signed an emergency order July 1 temporarily shutting down Heather Wyatt’s social media accounts. He said that he did so to protect the minor girls.

His actions Thursday lifted that order but came with social media restrictions on both the parents of the four girls and Wyatt.

All but one of those parents were in the hearing with their attorney, Patrick Guild. Wyatt attended with her attorney, Kimberly Papania.

Maples said state and federal laws are designed to protect the identity of minors in court cases. He was dismayed that the girls’ names had gotten out and noted that Heather Wyatt was partly to blame because she had allowed her daughter to share those names.

“As the old saying goes,” Maples said from the bench, “the train has left the station as to the identify of the minor children. This is so very unfortunate.”

Social media hate escalates in Aubreigh Wyatt case

Chancery Court action in the case began shortly after Aubreigh’s death on Labor Day, Sept. 4. Heather Wyatt filed for a temporary restraining order asking that Maples prohibit contact with her from the mother of one of the four girls.

The two women in November agreed to an order from Maples that prohibited both of them from contacting or harassing one another. The order extended to family members, he said. The mother of the girl asked in April that Wyatt be held in contempt of court for violating the order.

While Wyatt did not identify the girls, she said on the social media platform TikTok that her teenage daughter could tell people who they were. Wyatt admitted her mistake and Maples suspended any sanctions.

She said in a letter to the judge: “Please know that I did not intentionally set out to violate your order. I was distraught over my daughter’s death, and I acted emotionally and without considering that my actions could be in violation of your order.”

The parents filed the case to shut down Wyatt’s social media the same day the contempt citation against Wyatt was requested in the first case.

The conditions the judge attached to restoring Wyatt’s social media accounts, which also apply to the girls’ parents, include:

• No social media statements implying that anyone involved in the case bullied Aubreigh, or that the girls or their parents had any role in her death.
• No publication, directly or indirectly, of the names of the parents, their minor children or details that would identify them.
• No harassing, stalking or threatening of any parties in the case.
• Their lawyers and law enforcement must be notified immediately of any threat to the safety and well-being of any of the adults or a minor child.

Judge wants minors protected

Throughout the short hearing, Maples expressed his concern for the minor children in the case and lamented the role social media played in exposing them. “From what I’m told,” he said, “social media speaks for itself.”

He also said he wanted to make sure none of the minor children associated with the case are being abused or neglected, including the children of the parents who sued Wyatt and Wyatt’s own children.

Any findings from Youth Court would remain undisclosed to protect the minor children.

While Maples opened the court file, he also ordered names redacted from the court record to avoid identifying the children. Those exposing the minors on social media, he said, made “a mockery” of the court and “obliterated” its efforts to protect the minors.

He said that he hopes “we as a society see what lessons are to be learned.”

Wyatt used her social media accounts to raise awareness about bullying and suicide prevention.

However, other social media users copied photos that Wyatt posted online of Aubreigh and her family. Some of those social media users spread photos and videos of Aubreigh, along with the names of the girls accused of bullying her, using hashtags such as #JusticeforAubreigh.

While the case was sealed, someone leaked the judge’s emergency order online, sparking outrage over Wyatt being silenced and prompting more people, including TikTok influencers, to share Aubreigh’s story.

For the hearing, a crowd of about 75 onlookers gathered in the courthouse parking lot to support Wyatt and anti-bullying. The crowd cheered when she walked out of the courthouse after the hearing ended. Security, anchored by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, was heavy around the courthouse

Wyatt hugged a few of the supporters before heading to a car.

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