W. Va. § 61-3C-14a. Obscene, anonymous, harassing and
threatening communications by computer; penalty.
(2008)
(a)
It is
unlawful for any person, with the intent to harass or abuse another person,
use a computer to:
(1)
Make
contact with another without disclosing his or her identity with the intent to
harass or abuse;
(2)
Make
contact with a person after being requested by the person to desist from
contacting them;
(3)
Threaten to commit a crime
against any person or property; or
(4)
Cause
obscene material to be delivered or transmitted to a specific person after
being requested to desist from sending such material.
For purposes of this section,
"obscene material" means material that:
(A)
An average person,
applying contemporary adult community standards, would find, taken as a whole,
appeals to the prurient interest, is intended to appeal to the prurient
interest, or is pandered to a prurient interest;
(B)
An
average person, applying contemporary adult community standards, would find,
depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexually explicit conduct
consisting of an ultimate sexual act, normal or perverted, actual or
simulated, an excretory function, masturbation, lewd exhibition of the
genitals or sadomasochistic sexual abuse; and
(C)
A
reasonable person would find, taken as a whole, lacks literary, artistic,
political or scientific value.
(b)
It is
unlawful for any person to knowingly permit a computer under his or her
control to be used for any purpose prohibited by this section.
(c)
Any
offense committed under this section may be determined to have occurred at the
place at which the contact originated or the place at which the contact was
received or intended to be received.
(d)
Any
person who violates a provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than five hundred
dollars or confined in a county or regional jail not more than six months, or
both. For a second or subsequent offense, the person is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one
thousand dollars or confined in a county or regional jail for not more than
one year, or both.
W. Va. Code § 61-8-16.
Obscene, anonymous, harassing, repeated and threatening telephone calls;
penalty. (2002)
(a) It shall be unlawful for any
person with intent to harass or abuse another by means of telephone
to:
(1)
Make
any comment, request, suggestion or proposal which is obscene;
or
(2)
Make
a telephone call, whether or not conversation ensues, without disclosing his
identity and with intent to harass any person at the called number;
or
(3)
Make
or cause the telephone of another repeatedly or continuously to ring, with
intent to harass any person at the called number; or
(4)
Make
repeated telephone calls, during which conversation ensues, with intent to
harass any person at the called number; or
(5)
Threaten to commit a crime
against any person or property.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any
person to knowingly permit any telephone under his control to be used for any
purpose prohibited by this section.
(c) Any offense committed under this
section may be deemed to have occurred at the place at which the telephone
call was made, or the place at which the telephone called was
received.
(d) Any person who violates any
provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or
imprisoned in the county jail not more than six months, or both fined and
imprisoned.
W. Va. Code § 61-8-28. Criminal invasion of
privacy; penalties. (2000)
(a)
For
the purposes of this section, the words or terms defined in this subsection
have the meanings ascribed to them. These definitions are applicable unless a
different meaning clearly appears from the
context:
(1)
"A
person fully or partially nude" means a male or female who is either clothed
or unclothed so that: (A) All or any part of his or her genitals, pubic area
or buttocks is visible; or (B) in the case of a female only, a part of a
nipple of her breast is visible and is without a fully opaque
covering;
(2)
"To
visually portray" a person means to create a reproducible image of that person
by means of:
(A)
A
photograph;
(B)
A
motion picture;
(C)
A
video tape;
(D)
digital recording;
or
(E)
Any
other mechanical or electronic recording process or device that can preserve,
for later viewing, a visual image of a person;
and
(3)
"Place where a reasonable person
would have an expectation of privacy" means a place where a reasonable person
would believe that he or she could, in privacy, be fully or partially nude
without expecting that the act of exposing his or her body was being visually
portrayed by another person.
(b)
It is
unlawful for a person to knowingly visually portray another person without
that other person's knowledge, while that other person is fully or partially
nude and is in a place where a reasonable person would have an expectation of
privacy. A person who violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be confined in a county or regional
jail for not more than one year or fined not more than five thousand dollars,
or both.
(c)
Any
person who displays or distributes visual images of another person with
knowledge that said visual images were obtained in violation of subsection (b)
of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be
confined in a county or regional jail for not more than one year or fined not
more than five thousand dollars, or both.
(d)
A
person who is convicted of a second or subsequent violation of subsection (b)
or (c) of this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be
confined in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more
than five years or fined not more than ten thousand dollars, or
both.