What to do about illegal cyberstalking?

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Chapter21

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Jurisdiction
North Carolina
I am currently a victim of "cyberstalking" with an individual who will not stop harassing and threatening me. The law in NC states this:
"It is unlawful for a person to:
Electronically mail or electronically communicate to another repeatedly, whether or not conversation ensues, for the purpose of abusing, annoying, threatening, terrifying, harassing, or embarrassing any person."

I can prove beyond all doubt this person has broken that law in a rather dramatic way. The law also states:
"Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor."

OK, so how do I enforce that? I've called the police about the threats. They take a report and that's the end of it. I can (and will) apply for a no contact order, but I would like this person to receive further consequences for the laws he has broken. Do I need to push the police harder? Lawsuit? I don't want money, I just want him punished pursuant to the law.
 
Chapter21 said:
I am currently a victim of "cyberstalking" with an individual who will not stop harassing and threatening me. The law in NC states this:
"It is unlawful for a person to:
Electronically mail or electronically communicate to another repeatedly, whether or not conversation ensues, for the purpose of abusing, annoying, threatening, terrifying, harassing, or embarrassing any person."

I can prove beyond all doubt this person has broken that law in a rather dramatic way. The law also states:
"Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor."

OK, so how do I enforce that? I've called the police about the threats. They take a report and that's the end of it. I can (and will) apply for a no contact order, but I would like this person to receive further consequences for the laws he has broken. Do I need to push the police harder? Lawsuit? I don't want money, I just want him punished pursuant to the law.
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You don't enforce it. All you can do is report it to the police and they can choose whether to investigate further. If you get some sort of no-contact, or other protective order, then report any violations of that to the police as well.
 
Chapter21 said:
I am currently a victim of "cyberstalking" with an individual who will not stop harassing and threatening me. The law in NC states this:
"It is unlawful for a person to:
Electronically mail or electronically communicate to another repeatedly, whether or not conversation ensues, for the purpose of abusing, annoying, threatening, terrifying, harassing, or embarrassing any person."

I can prove beyond all doubt this person has broken that law in a rather dramatic way. The law also states:
"Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor."

OK, so how do I enforce that? I've called the police about the threats. They take a report and that's the end of it. I can (and will) apply for a no contact order, but I would like this person to receive further consequences for the laws he has broken. Do I need to push the police harder? Lawsuit? I don't want money, I just want him punished pursuant to the law.
Click to expand...
Do you know this person in real life or is it someone from a website? Do you know why they are doing this to you? How long has it been going on? Why haven't you requested a RO?
 
You do not get to decide what "punishment" he receives. That's not your call. All you get to do is report it to the police. There is nothing in the law that entitles you to determine what happens to him.
 
cbg said:
You do not get to decide what "punishment" he receives. That's not your call. All you get to do is report it to the police. There is nothing in the law that entitles you to determine what happens to him.
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I fully realize that. How do I initiate the police to investigate this issue? I've called them, they do nothing. I don't think they understand the situation. The law clearly says something is to be done. A judge should be deciding what, not me, not a cop. The wording of the law is incredibly specific.

At the very least, they should be paying a visit to ask his side of the story, they don't. And I don't think the hillbilly cop in my town of 400 knows what he is doing.
 
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justblue said:
Do you know this person in real life or is it someone from a website? Do you know why they are doing this to you? How long has it been going on? Why haven't you requested a RO?
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All I'm going to say is "yes" and I am not going to elaborate. I am literally filling out the paperwork for a no contact order right now.
 
cbg said:
You don't. They, not you, determine how their limited resources get utilized.
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You are entirely missing the point. And there is no need to be so rude, we are not in court, nobody is doing anything to you personally.
 
Chapter21 said:
OK, so how do I enforce that? I've called the police about the threats.
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All you can do with regard to the criminal violation is make a report of it with the police and prosecutor. It is ultimately up to the prosecutor is any charges are brought. The prosecutor has a lot of discretion in which cases to pursue and you cannot successfully sue the prosecutor to force prosecution on this.

Chapter21 said:
They take a report and that's the end of it. I can (and will) apply for a no contact order, but I would like this person to receive further consequences for the laws he has broken.
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A civil court order — the no contact order or other injunction — is all you can realistically do here beyond the report to the police or prosecutor. That order hopefully will put an end to the problem. But if the person continues the harassment after the order is served on him/her then you can go back to court to enforce the order, and that might lead to fines or some jail time.
 
As with any crime, you can report the matter to the police and, if you are not satisfied with the police's response, you can complain to superior officers. However, the police always have discretion to investigate or not investigate, to make or not make an arrest, and to refer or not refer the matter to the prosecuting attorney, and the prosecuting attorney has discretion to prosecute or not prosecute.

If you want to file a lawsuit, you should consult with a local attorney to discuss what options may exist. However, unless you have suffered some actual monetary damages, it is likely that your only recourse will be to seek a restraining order.
 
Chapter21 said:
You are entirely missing the point. And there is no need to be so rude, we are not in court, nobody is doing anything to you personally.
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Actually, no I'm not missing the point. I quite understand that you are looking for the means by which you can force the police to investigate. But the answer still remains, you don't. There is no action you can take and no law you can invoke that will force the police to investigate. It's entirely up to them which reports they investigate and which they do not. As someone else pointed out, you can complain to their superiors, but there isn't any action you can take or law you can invoke that will force them to do what you want, either.

And if you think my post was rude, you need to get out more.
 
cbg said:
Actually, no I'm not missing the point. I quite understand that you are looking for the means by which you can force the police to investigate.
And if you think my post was rude, you need to get out more.
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Nope, still wrong. Not looking to "force" anybody to do anything, and what I was trying to say earlier is stop being a prick, you are incredibly abrasive immediately for no reason at all. I have intentionally been vague about things here so you cannot possibly even have a reason to think you understand what is going on here. Your attitude is why people hate lawyers. You act like I'm bothering you and you don't want to have this conversation, so don't. Jesus.

To everybody else, thank you for the information, I'm not going to bother posting here anymore.
 
Chapter21 said:
Nope, still wrong. Not looking to "force" anybody to do anything, and what I was trying to say earlier is stop being a prick, you are incredibly abrasive immediately for no reason at all. I have intentionally been vague about things here so you cannot possibly even have a reason to think you understand what is going on here. Your attitude is why people hate lawyers. You act like I'm bothering you and you don't want to have this conversation, so don't. Jesus.

To everybody else, thank you for the information, I'm not going to bother posting here anymore.
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So, Now we know where the problem is. Maybe the police did look into the matter.
 
Make very, very detailed records. Screenshot everything with times attached. Keep a log of every instance of abuse. You never know what will eventually create proof, or what connections can be made by the things said, the times posted, etc. Just record EVERYTHING.

And then go to the local police to the person you believe to be the stalker. The local police have been our best friends on this.
 
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