When can you file harassment?
Full Question:
When can you file harassment? Do you have to be physically harmed before you can do so?
12/05/2007 |
Category: Criminal ยป Harassment |
State: Texas |
#13422
Answer:
The following is a Texas statute:
§ 42.07 PENAL. Harassment
(a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to harass, annoy,
alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass another, he:
(1) initiates communication by telephone, in writing, or by electronic
communication and in the course of the communication makes a comment,
request, suggestion, or proposal that is obscene;
(2) threatens, by telephone, in writing, or by electronic
communication, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm the person
receiving the threat, to inflict bodily injury on the person or to commit
a felony against the person, a member of his family or household, or his
property;
(3) conveys, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm the person
receiving the report, a false report, which is known by the conveyor to
be false, that another person has suffered death or serious bodily
injury;
(4) causes the telephone of another to ring repeatedly or makes
repeated telephone communications anonymously or in a manner reasonably
likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass, or offend
another;
(5) makes a telephone call and intentionally fails to hang up or
disengage the connection;
(6) knowingly permits a telephone under the person's control to be used
by another to commit an offense under this section; or
(7) sends repeated electronic communications in a manner reasonably
likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass, or offend
another.
(b) In this section:
(1) "Electronic communication" means a transfer of signs, signals,
writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted
in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic,
or photo-optical system. The term includes:
(A) a communication initiated by electronic mail, instant message,
network call, or facsimile machine; and
(B) a communication made to a pager.
(2) "Family" and "household" have the meaning assigned by Chapter 71,
Family Code.
(3) "Obscene" means containing a patently offensive description of or a
solicitation to commit an ultimate sex act, including sexual
intercourse, masturbation, cunnilingus, fellatio, or anilingus, or a
description of an excretory function.
(c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor, except that
the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if the actor has previously been
convicted under this section.