In Pennsylvania, harassment must be proven, and is defined as the following:

• Violence, including hitting or kicking; also, threatening violent contact.
• Stalking or following a particular person in a public place, like the mall or grocery store.
• Communication with another person in a lewd, threatening, lascivious, or obscene manner. This can include communicating through text messages, letters, emails, faxes, voicemails, phone calls, and online posts.
• Anonymous communication on a recurring basis.
• Recurring communication at exceptionally inconvenient hours.
• Communicating in any other annoying or obscene manner.
• Continuously engaging in actions that serve no legitimate purpose.

Some harassment cases are considered to be summary offense charges. They may not result in a prison sentence but will still cause problems for you, because you will end up with a criminal record.

For example, if a prospective employer runs a background check before hiring you, and if he or she finds out that you have a criminal record, they may not hire you. Even if you are not charged with anything major, a harassment defense attorney in Pittsburgh will help you escape a criminal record.

Some harassment charges are classified as misdemeanors; these could result in jail time. Harassment charges often accompany stalking charges.What Should I do?

In Pennsylvania, harassment has a very broad definition. This makes it imperative that you have a lawyer to represent you and to help you evaluate accusations that you or your family member has broken the law.

• Hire a reputable lawyer as soon as possible. If you wait, you lessen your chances of having your case dismissed or your punishment reduced.
• Do not communicate with the police or prosecutors without having a lawyer beside you. Without an attorney standing with you, your words could be twisted and presented in a wrong way. If you are taken into police custody and they begin to question you, tell them you want an attorney to be with you, and then politely refuse to respond to any questions they ask.

Penalties for Harassment

For harassment convictions that have been classified as a summary offense, the consequences are fines as high as $300 and jail sentences of up to 90 days.

If a person’s harassment conviction is a third-degree misdemeanor, he or she faces fines as high as $2,000 and jail sentences of up to one year.

The details of a harassment case are what determines its classification.

A harassment charge can be upgraded one degree if the offender has violated a protection order before that involved the same household member, family member, or victim. This means that a summary offense can become a third-degree misdemeanor or a third-degree misdemeanor could become a second-degree misdemeanor. In either case, the penalties get worse.

A second-degree misdemeanor comes with fines of up to $5,000 and jail sentences of up to 2 years.A Pittsburgh Harassment Defense Attorney Can Help

Often, someone with a grievance against you will make up a story or misunderstand something and made an unfair claim against you. You need a lawyer to help you sort through the charges and evidence and help you get the false charges dismissed.

To learn more or to get in touch with a reputable Pittsburgh Criminal Defense Attorney, contact Logue Law Group online or at 412.387.6901 or 412.387.6901 as soon as possible. The harassment defense lawyers at our Pittsburgh firm have the experience and skills you need.

Logue Law Group serves the Pittsburgh area, as well as West Virginia and Ohio.Interested in Learning More About Harassment Law in Pennsylvania?

You can find the definition and a description of harassment in the Pennsylvania Criminal Code under Title 18 Chapter 27.

What is Harassment?

Defined under Pa. C.S.A. § 2709, harassment is a crime that involves two categories including harassment and cyber harassment of a child.

Harassment

The defendant commits harassment when they have the intention of harassing, annoy or alarm other people while performing the following acts:

• Striking, shoving or kicking a person or attempt and threat of doing these
• Following a person around public places
• Repeatedly committing an act with no legitimate purpose
• Communication with lewd, obscene, lascivious, or threatening words or drawings or caricatures
• Communicating repeatedly with anonymous letter
• Communicating repeatedly at inconvenient hours

Cyber Harassment of a Child

The victim of this crime is always a child. If the person with the intention of harassing, annoy or alarm commits the harassment using electronic and digital modes or social media, then it is known to be cyber harassment of a child. They can commit the following acts:

• Communication with “seriously disparaging statement or opinion” about the physical characteristics of a child, sexuality and sexual activity, physical or mental health condition
• Communicating a threat of inflicting harm

Penalties of Harassment Charges in Pennsylvania

The harassment can be summary harassment or even a third degree misdemeanor. In the case of summary harassment, the defendant can get 90 days of jail time and fines up to $300. If it is a third degree misdemeanor, then the jail time might be of one year along with a fine up to $2000. The penalties might get increased if the offender is violating PFA order or harassing the family members of the victim too.

Examples of Harassment in Pennsylvania

There are various ways one can commit harassment. Take a look.

• Repeatedly attempting to contact the victim
• Sending lewd content to the victim
• Making several threats
• Attempting or contacting at inconvenient hours like late night
• Following the victim in a public place
• Threatening a minor online
• Sending sexual or disparaging content to a child virtually
• Making physical contact with the victim with the intention of harm

In all of these examples, it needed to be proven in the court that the intention of the offender was wrong.

Defending Harassment Charges with Pittsburgh domestic violence lawyer

The severity of harassment is a bit lower than stalking. Also, the intent of the defendant plays the primary role of harassment. And that is why in the trial, defendant’s words and victim’s words can be used to prove that the defendant was the harasser.

You need to get in touch with a Pittsburgh domestic violence lawyer. Come to Logue Law Group and let us take care of your charges. For more details, give us a call.