Stalking
La. R.S. 14:40.2. Stalking. (2007)
A.
Stalking is the intentional and
repeated following or harassing of another person that would cause a
reasonable person to feel alarmed or to suffer emotional distress. Stalking
shall include but not be limited to the intentional and repeated uninvited
presence of the perpetrator at another person's home, workplace, school, or
any place which would cause a reasonable person to be alarmed, or to suffer
emotional distress as a result of verbal or behaviorally implied threats of
death, bodily injury, sexual assault, kidnapping, or any other statutory
criminal act to himself or any member of his family or any person with whom he
is acquainted.
B.
(1)
(a)
Notwithstanding any law to the
contrary, on first conviction, whoever commits the crime of stalking shall be
fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars
and shall be imprisoned for not less than thirty days nor more than one year.
Notwithstanding any other sentencing provisions, any person convicted of
stalking shall undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Imposition of the sentence
shall not be suspended unless the offender is placed on probation and
participates in a court-approved counseling which could include but shall not
be limited to anger management, abusive behavior intervention groups, or any
other type of counseling deemed appropriate by the
courts.
(b)
Whoever commits the crime of
stalking against a victim under the age of eighteen when the provisions of
Paragraph (6) of this Subsection are not applicable shall be imprisoned for
not more than three years, with or without hard labor, and fined not more than
two thousand dollars, or both.
(2)
(a)
Any
person who commits the offense of stalking and who is found by the trier of
fact, whether the jury at a jury trial, the judge in a bench trial, or the
judge at a sentencing hearing following a jury trial, beyond a reasonable
doubt to have placed the victim of the stalking in fear of death or bodily
injury by the actual use of or the defendant's having in his possession during
the instances which make up the crime of stalking a dangerous weapon or is
found beyond a reasonable doubt to have placed the victim in reasonable fear
of death or bodily injury, shall be imprisoned for not less than one year nor
more than five years, with or without hard labor, without benefit of
probation, parole, or suspension of sentence and may be fined one thousand
dollars, or both. Whether or not the defendant's use of or his possession of
the dangerous weapon is a crime or, if a crime, whether or not he is charged
for that offense separately or in addition to the crime of stalking shall have
no bearing or relevance as to the enhanced sentence under the provisions of
this Paragraph.
(b)
If
the victim is under the age of eighteen, and when the provisions of Paragraph
(6) of this Subsection are not applicable, the offender shall be imprisoned
for not less than two years nor more than five years, with or without hard
labor, without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence and may
be fined not less than one thousand nor more than two thousand dollars, or
both.
(3)
Any
person who commits the offense of stalking against a person for whose benefit
a protective order, a temporary restraining order, or any lawful order
prohibiting contact with the victim issued by a judge or magistrate is in
effect in either a civil or criminal proceeding, protecting the victim of the
stalking from acts by the offender which otherwise constitute the crime of
stalking, shall be punished by imprisonment with or without hard labor for not
less than ninety days and not more than two years or fined not more than five
thousand dollars, or both.
(4)
Upon
a second conviction occurring within seven years of a prior conviction for
stalking, the offender shall be imprisoned with or without hard labor for not
less than five years nor more than twenty years, without benefit of probation,
parole, or suspension of sentence, and may be fined not more than five
thousand dollars, or both.
(5)
Upon
a third or subsequent conviction, the offender shall be imprisoned with or
without hard labor for not less that ten years and not more than forty years
and may be fined not more than five thousand dollars, or
both.
(6)
(a)
Any
person thirteen years of age or older who commits the crime of stalking
against a child twelve years of age or younger and who is found by the trier
of fact, whether the jury at a jury trial, the judge in a bench trial, or the
judge at a sentencing hearing following a jury trial, beyond a reasonable
doubt to have placed the child in reasonable fear of death or bodily injury,
or in reasonable fear of the death or bodily injury of a family member of the
child shall be punished by imprisonment with or without hard labor for not
less than one year and not more than three years and fined not less than
fifteen hundred dollars and not more than five thousand dollars, or
both.
(b)
Lack
of knowledge of the child's age shall not be a defense.
C.
For
the purposes of this Section, the following words shall have the following
meanings:
(1)
"Harassing" means the repeated
pattern of verbal communications or nonverbal behavior without invitation
which includes but is not limited to making telephone calls, transmitting
electronic mail, sending messages via a third party, or sending letters or
pictures.
(2)
"Pattern of conduct" means a
series of acts over a period of time, however short, evidencing an intent to
inflict a continuity of emotional distress upon the person. Constitutionally
protected activity is not included within the meaning of pattern of
conduct.
(3)
Repealed by Acts 1993, No. 125,
§ 2.
D.
As
used in this Section, when the victim of the stalking is a child twelve years
old or younger:
(1)
"Pattern of conduct" includes
repeated acts of nonconsensual contact involving the victim or a family
member.
(2)
"Family member"
includes:
(a)
A
child, parent, grandparent, sibling, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece of the
victim, whether related by blood, marriage, or
adoption.
(b)
A
person who lives in the same household as the
victim.
(3)
(a)
"Nonconsensual contact" means
any contact with a child twelve years old or younger that is initiated or
continued without that child's consent, that is beyond the scope of the
consent provided by that child, or that is in disregard of that child's
expressed desire that the contact be avoided or
discontinued.
(b)
"Nonconsensual contact"
includes:
(i)
Following or appearing within
the sight of that child.
(ii) Approaching or confronting that
child in a public place or on private property.
(iii)
Appearing at the residence of that
child.
(iv)
Entering onto or remaining on
property occupied by that child.
(v)
Contacting that child by
telephone.
(vi)
Sending mail or electronic
communications to that child.
(vii)
Placing an object on, or
delivering an object to, property occupied by that
child.
(c) "Nonconsensual contact" does not include any otherwise lawful
act by a
parent, tutor, caretaker, mandatory reporter, or other person having legal
custody of the child as those terms are defined in the Louisiana Children's
Code.
(4)
"Victim" means the child who is
the target of the stalking.
E.
Whenever it is deemed
appropriate for the protection of the victim, the court may send written
notice to any employer of a person convicted for a violation of the provisions
of this Section describing the conduct on which the conviction was
based.
F.
The
provisions of this Section shall not apply to a private investigator licensed
pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 56 of Title 37 of the Louisiana Revised
Statutes of 1950, acting during the course and scope of his employment and
performing his duties relative to the conducting of an
investigation.
G.
The
provisions of this Section shall not apply to an investigator employed by an
authorized insurer regulated pursuant to the provisions of Title 22 of the
Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, acting during the course and scope of his
employment and performing his duties relative to the conducting of an
insurance investigation.
H.
The
provisions of this Section shall not apply to an investigator employed by an
authorized self-insurance group or entity regulated pursuant to the provisions
of Chapter 10 of Title 23 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, acting
during the course and scope of his employment and performing his duties
relative to the conducting of an insurance
investigation.
I.
A
conviction for stalking shall not be subject to expungement as provided for by
R.S.
44:9.
La. R.S.
14:40.3. Cyberstalking. (2001)
-
For the
purposes of this Section, the following words shall have the following
meanings:
(1)
"Electronic communication" means
any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence
of any nature, transmitted in whole or in part by wire, radio, computer,
electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical system.
(2)
"Electronic mail" means the
transmission of information or communication by the use of the Internet, a
computer, a facsimile machine, a pager, a cellular telephone, a video
recorder, or other electronic means sent to a person identified by a unique
address or address number and received by that person.
-
Cyberstalking is action of any
person to accomplish any of the following:
(1)
Use
in electronic mail or electronic communication of any words or language
threatening to inflict bodily harm to any person or to such person's child,
sibling, spouse, or dependent, or physical injury to the property of any
person, or for the purpose of extorting money or other things of value from
any person.
(2)
Electronically mail or
electronically communicate to another repeatedly, whether or not conversation
ensues, for the purpose of threatening, terrifying, or harassing any
person.
(3)
Electronically mail or
electronically communicate to another and to knowingly make any false
statement concerning death, injury, illness, disfigurement, indecent conduct,
or criminal conduct of the person electronically mailed or of any member of
the person's family or household with the intent to threaten, terrify, or
harass.
(4)
Knowingly permit an electronic
communication device under the person's control to be used for the taking of
an action in Paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of this
Subsection.
-
(1)
Whoever commits the crime of
cyberstalking shall be fined not more than two thousand dollars, or imprisoned
for not more than one year, or both.
(2)
Upon
a second conviction occurring within seven years of the prior conviction for
cyberstalking, the offender shall be imprisoned for not less than one hundred
and eighty days and not more than three years, and may be fined not more than
five thousand dollars, or both.
(3)
Upon
a third or subsequent conviction occurring within seven years of
a prior
conviction for stalking, the offender shall be imprisoned for not less than
two years and not more than five years and may be fined not more than five
thousand dollars, or both.
-
Any
offense under this Section committed by the use of electronic mail or
electronic communication may be deemed to have been committed where the
electronic mail or electronic communication was originally sent, originally
received, or originally viewed by any person.
-
This
Section does not apply to any peaceable, nonviolent, or nonthreatening
activity intended to express political views or to provide lawful
information to others.
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