Harrassment by communication?

Question

I'am a Power of Attorney in a criminal case of identity theft for my elderly father. The accused is in jail for the crimes and her mom continue to send me harrassing emails. I responded by saying leave me alone and stop sending emails and spammed then. Last week i was told in another email that they wish i was dead and pray that i would die. I ignored it and now just yesterday another email was sent to me asking "AINT YOU DEAD YET?". All emails are from the same screen name from AOL. What can i do about this because they know where i work and where i live. I changed my phone #. I clicked the email address for spam but they made a new screen name on AOL still harrassing me. The criminal case is still in court and the person is awaiting trial or to plead guilty even though they already admitted doing this crime. What can i do as prosecuting witness as well as a power of attorney on this case in a situation like this because i live in florida and the harrasser lives in PA. HELP

Answer 1

Harassing Communication from out of state is difficult as it is a misdemeanor offense by state law. In my own jurisdiction,

Section 13A-11-8

(b)(1) HARASSING COMMUNICATIONS. A person commits the crime of harassing communications if, with intent to harass or alarm another person, he or she does any of the following:

a. Communicates with a person, anonymously or otherwise, by telephone, telegraph, mail, or any other form of written or electronic communication, in a manner likely to harass or cause alarm.

You should file a police report as indicated but also, as "Chuck the Duck" advised, contact AOL with a formal complaint either by telephone and/or written letter.

My last suggestion is to delete the screen name you're using that receives the harassing emails and create another close to it or entirely different explaining to those in the email address book the purpose of deleting the current screen name.

Despite the best intentions of one respondant, terroristic threats are a bit different than harassing communication or annoying comments. A typical law defined:

§ 2706. Terroristic threats.

(a) Offense defined. A person commits the crime of terroristic threats if the person communicates, either directly or indirectly, a threat to;

commit any crime of violence with intent to terrorize another;

cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transportation; or

otherwise cause serious public inconvenience, or cause terror or serious public inconvenience with reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror or inconvenience.

As you stated in your question...there was only the comment that they "wish you were," "i hope you...," and "ain't you...yet."

These statements are short of "I WILL you!"

I know it's frustrating but I think if you do as I and others suggest, you will do fine!

Best wishes.

Answer 2

This may not help much as Im in SC but this is what I would do. Contact the police department and file a report for Harrassment. Most harrassment laws include electronic communication. Also be sure to get the IP address. Once you have the IP address make sure to include it in the report and as someone else said, print and save everything you receive. The police will be able to trace the IP address to where the emails are being sent. They dont sound that intelligent so more than likely they will all come back to the same address. Once the police know this then they can respond to the address and interview the people involved. Once this is done, more than likely, a charge can be made.

Answer 3

In Iowa, the police will call and give them a no harassment warning. If they contact you after they have been given the no harassment warning, they will be charged with harassment and arrested or a warrant would be issued. I'm not sure if that applies to your situation. I would contact your local police and ask them what your options are. How did they get your phone number and e-mail? Was that part of the scam? The other option if you don't want to go the legal route would be to change your screenname.

Answer 4

Post-Haste- contact A.O.L. E-Mail Abuse and attach copies of the E-Mails to your request for help in prosecuting this person(s) for active Harassment. A.O.L. can suspend their E-Mail account there-by negating any further Harassment. You may also contact the local Police Department in PA. and file a complaint with them. In some cases I've actually heard of the police going to the persons home and giving them a warning. Hope this helps.

GOD BLESS/GOOD LUCK!!

Answer 5

Save and document EVERYTHING, contact your local PD, or DA. This is a federal crime.

Answer 6

Sounds like someone's making a terroristic threat via interstate communication lines? Hmm - that sounds illegal ina big fat federal way.