Cyberstalking Laws

[atwhatcost]

I'm writing a novel that's loosely based on my experience with being mobbed - that is cyberstalked by a group of people on a website. I'd like the ending to beat the reality though. So, I need information from lawyers. The case scenario: Woman from New York and her friends from all across the country cyberstalks a Pennsylvanian woman. BUT, the New Yorker lives with her sister, who ends up seeing what's happening, and decides to help the Pennsylvanian being stalked. (She can gather all the proof needed from her sister's computer.) So the cyberstalker's target has the proof.

What proof would warrant legal action? (And dream big - picture best case scenario, That's the beauty of fiction. lol) What can happen legally? Can police get involved? Can the New Yorker be arrested? Can those, who helped her, be arrested? What are the real laws concerning cyberstalking in America? From everything I've found online, the best case scenario is a court case, and nothing happens anyway. This seems like such a vague thing in America right now. I need to find out what really happens. Every site I've found on the subject says to report it to the police and hire a lawyer, if you have the evidence, but they all stop there, as if there is a huge void in the law, which really signals, "It's legal." Or, at least, "It's not illegal."

Thanks.

Lynn

 

[CdwJava]

As a third degree misdemeanor, I doubt that Pennsylvania would - as a practical matter - seek to extradite the suspects from New York even if a case could be made against them.

Investigating an interstate crime such is this would be pricey. Granted, you are creating a fiction so the realities of budgets and resources can be suspended, but I would not think it too likely that a PA agency would spend a lot of time and resources hunting down a group of people in other states for what is legally a pretty minor offense.

This would appear to be Harassment per the PA statutes (18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 2709):

http://law.onecle.com/pennsylvania/crimes-and-offenses/00.027.009.000.html

 

[atwhatcost]

Thank you for your time and a lot more information than I had before! (So it's a misdemeanor? Whooptee doo! Our government. Doncha just love them? Harassment and bullying affects the health and safety of adults, too, yet it's no big thing.)

I figured that, but was wondering if the outcome might be different considering it is a gang of adult bullies online ("mobbing syndrome"), the proof is handed to them on a silver platter, and it would make the national news. No extradition required - inter-agency cooperation among many police departments across the country.

Ah, the imagination of fiction at work. Too bad reality can't compete. lol One problem with fiction, it has to be more realistic than real life. I can't give this up to anything that would make readers think, "that won't happen in real life," except if I can prove it could, without the concept of "coincidence."

What I really want to happen at the end of the story is for the sister, who helped the Pennsylvanian, to get the house the two sisters own together. If I can't get the cyberstalker arrested for her actions, can she be legally kicked out of a shared house under any regulation from her (semi)illegal activities? (I still don't think cyberstalking is truly illegal, if people aren't busted and sent to jail for this vicious crime. Legislators take it as seriously as they take jaywalking.) There will be consequences for her actions. I'm still not sure if the consequences will phase her. Alienation from her twin sister won't phase her, but getting arrested or losing her home would.

 

[CdwJava]

Thank you for your time and a lot more information than I had before! (So it's a misdemeanor? Whooptee doo! Our government. Doncha just love them? Harassment and bullying affects the health and safety of adults, too, yet it's no big thing.)

Such mental effects are what civil suits are for. Not every state makes this sort of thing a crime, and those that do usually do not make it a serious crime unless the content of the emails and texts is threatening some imminent harm. A lot would depend upon the contents of the commentary and how easy they might be to ignore, and what the intent might be. Then, of course, PROVING the intent can be difficult as can identifying the perpetrators. Absent some very serious crime or some highly publicized ramifications from the cyberstalking, it is unlikely local law enforcement will spend much time on it.

I figured that, but was wondering if the outcome might be different considering it is a gang of adult bullies online ("mobbing syndrome"), the proof is handed to them on a silver platter, and it would make the national news. No extradition required - inter-agency cooperation among many police departments across the country.

Again, you are dealing with what is a low grade misdemeanor in PA. Unless it becomes national news because someone is driven to suicide or homicide as a result of the harassment, it is not all that newsworthy. I live and work in a small town these days and we receive similar sorts of reports each month and they rarely constitute a crime. Those that do usually hit a dead end quickly unless they involve local teens harassing each other, in which case a call or contact and a stern "stop it!" usually works.

But, you are free to create a scenario where the police would look into this with gusto. It would not be realistic, but then, much of what you see on TV cop shows is not realistic either.

What I really want to happen at the end of the story is for the sister, who helped the Pennsylvanian, to get the house the two sisters own together. If I can't get the cyberstalker arrested for her actions, can she be legally kicked out of a shared house under any regulation from her (semi)illegal activities?

I cannot conceive of any criminal action that would legally kick a co-owner out of a house. That would have to be a civil action and would be unrelated to any criminal harassment. The sister might sell her share of the house to the other sister to help pay legal expenses, but that might be about it.

 

[atwhatcost]

Thanks for replying again.

I'm now thinking it became a human-interest story in a weekly small town paper that was discovered by a NYC reporter, and turned into a national news story. No teens involved at all, no suicide attempts made and no homicides from it. At worse, the target was obviously threatened and became physically ill for a few months. Not enough to go for civil lawsuit. The target is disabled, so that might garner more politic sympathy. Of course, politicians feel compelled to look good. Ultimately, the stalking sister checks into a mental health care clinic for "rehab." Yes, I know there is no Cyberstalker's Anonymous yet, (I won't be surprised, if they form one before my life's over, at the rate cyberstalking is increasing), so no rehab for that particular thing. It's all about saving face for the politicians and the sister.

I also know you're not a politician, so don't have the mind of one, but would you believe that? I've witnessed an old mayor ignoring someone in need in public, but that's the exception for politicians, not the rule.

There is a big difference between online bullying and cyberstalking. I know it gets important, if the targets are kids, now. The purpose of my novel is to get people to realize it's just as important, if the target is an adult. To do that, it has to be very believable. This can't go like cop, lawyers and CSI shows on TV. I want no room for readers to suspend belief in my story. I've even come to accept that the sister will return home.