Pennsylvania Stalking and Harassment Victim Attorneys

There are strict laws prohibiting harassment and stalking in Pennsylvania. The 18 PA.C.S Statute 2709.1 defines the crime of stalking as followed:

"A person commits a crime of stalking when the person either:

• Engages in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits act towards another person including following the person without proper authority, under circumstances which demonstrates an intend to place such other person in reasonable fear of bodily injury or to cause substantial emotional distress to such other person;
• Engages in a course of conduct repeatedly or communicates to another person under circumstances which demonstrate or communicate either an intent to place such other person in reasonable fear of bodily injury or to cause substantial emotional distress to such other person."

Harassment, conversely, is defined according to Statute 2709 as followed:

"A person commits a crime of harassment when, with intend to harass, annoy or alarm another, the person:

1. Strikes, shoves, kicks or otherwise subjects the other person to physical contact, or threatens to do the same
2. Follows the other person in or about a public place or places
3. Engages in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits acts for serving illegitimate purpose
4. Communicates to or about such other person using threatening or obscene words, language, drawings or caricatures
5. Communicates repeatedly in an anonymous manner
6. Communicates repeatedly in an extremely inconvenient hours
7. Communicates repeatedly in a manner other than specified in paragraphs four, five and six."

For a deeper understanding about how the law views crimes of stalking and harassment, you can read these statutes in depth to find out how, for instance, terms such as "communicates" and "course of conduct" have been legally construed.

On a broader note, it's important to understand that if you've been a victim of stalking or harassment in PA, you have numerous legal remedies available to you as well as agencies and victim's rights groups on your side. For instance, the Office of Victim Advocate (OVA) provides key services, notifications, and resources for harassment and stalking victims. Whether the person who has been harassing/stalking you is a known acquaintance or a complete stranger, the law provides numerous tools to get this person to stop bothering you. And if the person fails to comply with your wishes, you can take legal action against him or her to end the harassing/annoying acts.

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