Newburyport teens charged in cyberbullying case

He said such harassment “won’t be tolerated,” especially in light of the suicide last month of Phoebe Prince, 15, of South Hadley, who hanged herself after being bullied by a group of girls who taunted her with text messages and on Facebook.

Murray said the case came to the police's attention in the fall fall when the alleged victim’s mother alerted police that her son was being harassed for messages the other boys allegedly posted on the fake Facebook page they made. The boy did not have his own Facebook page.

Murray said students began questioning the boy about the posts on Facebook and some attacked him physically by tripping him. “He was repeatedly harassed,” Murray said.

He said two of the three boys have cooperated with police and admitted to creating the Facebook page. ““They stated that they chose the person … because he wasn’t too smart,” Murray said. “They said they found him to be an outcast; they thought he was different, and that it would be funny.”

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com