Louisiana
This page lists the most applicable state crimes addressing stalking. However, depending on the facts of the case, a stalker might also be charged with other crimes, such as trespassing, intimidation of a witness, breaking and entering, etc. Check your state code or consult with your local prosecutor about other charges that might apply in a particular case.
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, kidnaping, 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.