GRAYS HARBOR COUNTY, Wash. -- An Aberdeen High School student has been charged with malicious harassment for the hateful comments he posted about another student on the popular Web site MySpace.com.

Detectives say Brandon Peterman, 19, threatened to "hang" an African-American student at the school in a written message posted on the Web site.

Peterman is accused of bullying a 17-year-old student at the school by creating an online profile. Prosecutor Megan Valentine Peterman said Peterman and his friends used the site to call the African-American student racial slurs and imply he was homosexual.

Valentine says the targeted teen didn't even know the profile existed until his sister discovered it three months ago.

The harrassment turned violent when one student used a racial slur and wrote "I'll hang you so fast if you ever tell on me ever again."

That message was posted by Peterman.

"It's a threat. He perceived it that way so it scares him," Valentine said.

The victim told detectives the message was the latest in a long string of harassments. He said he "complained about Peterman to the school" after "he tried to trip the victim."

The victim believes the profile was created to belittle him because "he is African-American and Peterman's friends think he is gay," according to court documents.

Peterman told detectives he posted the message as a joke. "He did not mean anything by the comment and never planned to do anything about it," the documents state.

Superintendent Marty Kay says teachers are also investigating, but can't discipline the student immediately.

"If this did not occur during school hours, we're going to have a difficult time making the connection with Brandon," he said.

Prosecutors consider the incident a crime since the threats "targeted the victim's race and sexual orientation."

"It's not something that's particularly unusual, but certainly this degree of hatred is something we don't normally see, this type of language," said Valentine.

If convicted, Peterman could face up to 5 years in jail.