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Cyberstalking


Are There Laws to Protect a Victim From Cyberstalking?

West Virginia Code §61-3C-14A.
This addresses obscene, anonymous, harassing and threatening communications.


 (a) According to West Virginia Code 61-3C-14A it is unlawful for any person, with the intent to harass or abuse another person, to use a computer to:

• Make contact with another without disclosing his or her identity with the intent to harass or abuse;
• Make contact with a person after being requested by the person to stop from contacting them;
• Threaten to commit a crime against any person or property;
• Cause obscene material to be delivered or transmitted to a specific person after being requested to stop sending such material.

(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.

• Eating pattern disturbances
• A feeling of being out of control
• A pervasive sense of the loss of personal safety

(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.

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Federal Regulations regarding Cyberstalking

As part of the 2000 Violence Against Women Act, Congress extended the federal interstate stalking statute to include cyberstalking.18 U.S.C. §2261A(2). It is a federal crime, punishable from five years to life in prison, to stalk another person across state, tribal or international lines using regular mail, e-mail or the internet. The defendant must have the intent to kill or injure the victim, or to place a family member or a spouse or intimate partner of the victim in fear of death or serious injury.

In 2000, Congress also passed the Amy Boyer’s Law, 42 U.S.C. Section 1320 B-23 (P.L. 106-553), which prohibits the sale or display of an individual's social security number to the public, including sales over the Internet, without the person's expressed consent, submitted either electronically or in writing. The law allows a person harmed by wrongful release of a social security number to sue the seller or displayer for equitable relief and monetary damages in a U.S. District Court. In addition, the Social Security Commissioner can impose on any such violator a civil penalty of $5,000 for each violation, with increased penalties (maximum of $50,000) if the violations constitute a general business practice. This new law applies to violations effective on December 21, 2002, two years after its enactment. (Amy Boyer’s Law is named after a young woman who was murdered after her stalker purchased her social security number over the Internet.)

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