Stalking
Harassment
Related Offenses
Analyzing Stalking
Laws
Stalking
11 Del.
C. § 1312.
Stalking; class G felony, class F felony, class C
felony. (2007)
(a) A person is guilty of stalking
when the person knowingly engages in a course of conduct directed at a
specific person and that conduct would cause a reasonable person
to:
(1)
Fear
physical injury to himself or herself or that of another person;
or
(2)
Suffer other significant mental
anguish or distress that may, but does not necessarily, require medical or
other professional treatment or counseling.
(b) A violation of subsection (a) of
this section is a class G felony.
(c) Stalking is a class F felony if a person
is guilty of stalking
and 1 or more of the following exists:
(1)
The
person is age 21 or older and the victim is under the age of 14;
or
(2)
The
person violated any order prohibiting contact with the victim;
or
(3)
The
victim is age 62 years of age or older; or
(4)
The
course of conduct includes a threat of death or threat of serious physical
injury to the victim, or to another person; or
(5)
The
person causes physical injury to the victim.
(d) Stalking is a class C felony if the
person is guilty of stalking
and 1 or more of the following exists:
(1)
The
person possesses a deadly weapon during any act; or
(2)
The
person causes serious physical injury to the victim.
(e) Definitions. -- The following terms shall
have the following meaning as used in this section:
(1)
"Course of conduct" means 3 or
more separate incidents, including, but not limited to, acts in which the
person directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method,
device, or means, follows, monitors, observes, surveys, threatens, or
communicates to or about another, or interferes with, jeopardizes, damages, or
disrupts another's daily activities, property, employment, business, career,
education, or medical care. A conviction is not required for any predicate act
relied upon to establish a course of conduct. A conviction for any predicate
act relied upon to establish a course of conduct does not preclude prosecution
under this section. Prosecution under this section does not preclude
prosecution under any other section of the Code.
(2)
"A
reasonable person" means a reasonable person in the victim's
circumstances.
(f)
Notwithstanding any contrary
provision of § 4205 of this title, any person who commits the crime of stalking
by engaging in a course of conduct which includes any act or acts which have
previously been prohibited by a then-existing court order or sentence shall
receive a minimum sentence of 6 months incarceration at Level V. The first 6
months of said period of incarceration shall not be subject to
suspension.
(g) Notwithstanding any contrary
provision of § 4205 of this title, any person who is convicted of stalking
within 5 years of a prior conviction of stalking
shall receive a minimum sentence of 1 year incarceration at Level V. The first
year of said period of incarceration shall not be subject to
suspension.
(h) In any prosecution under this
law, it shall not be a defense that the perpetrator was not given actual
notice that the course of conduct was unwanted; or that the perpetrator did
not intend to cause the victim fear or other emotional
distress.
(i)
In
any prosecution under this section, it is an affirmative defense that the
person charged was engaged in lawful picketing.
(j)
This
section shall not apply to conduct which occurs in furtherance of legitimate
activities of law-enforcement, private investigators, security officers or
private detectives as those activities are defined in Chapter 13 of Title
24.
Back to top
Harassment
11 Del. C. §
1311. Harassment; class B misdemeanor.
(2007)
(a) A person is guilty of harassment
when, with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another
person:
(1)
That
person insults, taunts or challenges another person or engages in any other
course of alarming or distressing conduct which serves no legitimate purpose
and is in a manner which the person knows is likely to provoke a violent or
disorderly response or cause a reasonable person to suffer fear, alarm, or
distress;
(2)
Communicates with a person by
telephone, telegraph, mail or any other form of written or electronic
communication in a manner which the person knows is likely to cause annoyance
or alarm including, but not limited to, intrastate telephone calls initiated
by vendors for the purpose of selling goods or services;
(3)
Knowingly permits any telephone
under that person's control to be used for a purpose prohibited by this
section;
(4)
In
the course of a telephone call that person uses obscene language or language
suggesting that the recipient of the call engage with that person or another
person in sexual relations of any sort, knowing that the person is thereby
likely to cause annoyance or alarm to the recipient of the call;
or
(5)
Makes
repeated or anonymous telephone calls to another person whether or not
conversation ensues, knowing that person is thereby likely to cause annoyance
or alarm.
(b) Harassment is a class A
misdemeanor.
Back to top
Related
Offenses
11 Del. C. § 1335.
Violation of privacy; class A misdemeanor; class G felony. (2006)
(a)
A
person is guilty of violation of privacy when, except as authorized by law,
the person:
(1)
Trespasses on property intending
to subject anyone to eavesdropping or other surveillance in a private place;
or
(2)
Installs in any private place,
without consent of the person or persons entitled to privacy there, any device
for observing, photographing, recording, amplifying or broadcasting sounds or
events in that place; or
(3)
Installs or uses outside a
private place any device for hearing, recording, amplifying or broadcasting
sounds originating in that place which would not ordinarily be audible or
comprehensible outside, without the consent of the person or persons entitled
to privacy there; or
(4)
Intercepts without the consent
of all parties thereto a message by telephone, telegraph, letter or other
means of communicating privately, including private conversation;
or
(5)
Divulges without the consent of
the sender and the receiver the existence or contents of any message by
telephone, telegraph, letter or other means of communicating privately if the
accused knows that the message was unlawfully intercepted or if the accused
learned of the message in the course of employment with an agency engaged in
transmitting it.
(6)
Tape
records, photographs, films, videotapes or otherwise reproduces the image of
another person who is getting dressed or undressed or has that person's
genitals, buttocks or her breasts exposed, without consent, in any place where
persons normally disrobe including but not limited to a fitting room, dressing
room, locker room or bathroom, where there is a reasonable expectation of
privacy. This paragraph shall not apply to any acts done by a parent or
guardian inside of that person's dwelling, or upon that person's real
property, when a subject of victim of such acts is intended to be any child of
such parent or guardian who has not yet reached that child's eighteenth
birthday and whose primary residence is in or upon the dwelling or real
property of the parent or guardian, unless the acts done by the parent or
guardian are intended to produce sexual gratification for any person in which
case this paragraph shall apply; or
(7)
Secretly or surreptitiously
videotapes, films, photographs or otherwise records another person under or
through that person's clothing for the purpose of viewing the body of or the
undergarments worn by that other person; or
(8)
Knowingly installs an electronic
or mechanical location tracking device in or on a motor vehicle without the
consent of the registered owner, lessor or lessee of said vehicle. This
paragraph shall not apply to the lawful use of an electronic tracking device
by a law enforcement officer, nor shall it apply to a parent or legal guardian
who installs such a device for the purpose of tracking the location of a minor
child thereof.
(b)
This
section does not apply to:
(1)
Overhearing of messages through
a regularly installed instrument on a telephone party line or an extension or
any other regularly installed instrument or equipment;
or
(2)
Acts
done by the telephone company or subscribers incident to the enforcement of
telephone company regulations or subscriber rules relating to the use of
facilities; or
(3)
Acts
done by personnel of any telephone or telegraph carrier in the performance of
their duties in connection with the construction, maintenance or operation of
a telephone or telegraph system; or
(4)
The
divulgence of the existence of any message in response to a subpoena issued by
a court of competent jurisdiction or a governmental body having subpoena
powers; or
(5)
Acts
done by police officers as provided in §§ 1336 [Repealed] and 1431 of this
title.
(c)
Any
violation of paragraph (a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(4), (a)(5) or (a)(8) of
this section shall be a class A misdemeanor. Any violation of paragraph (a)(6)
or (a)(7) of this section shall be a class G felony.
Back to
top