ONLINE HARASSMENT AND JAIL TIME IN CALIFORNIA

The digital world can be quite a scary place, for one never knows who might be stalking him constantly with malicious intent. These days most kids are glued to their phones all day long, surfing their favorite social media for hours. They post where they go, whom they meet up, and more, making the job of a stalker easier than ever before. One can easily monitor their every movement just by following them on various social media platforms.

There is no harm with obtaining the information that you all ready to put out there, but using the same with a malicious intent to harm is definitely a cause of concern. You might be wondering if there are laws in place to check such behavior and take action against the perpetrators. Of course, there is! California is one of the pioneer states to come up with strict laws against cybercrime and online harassment. Continue reading this article to find out more about the same.

Violation of Laws and Consequences: Even though all the fifty states in the USA now have anti-stalking laws, California was the very first county to pass the law in 1990. Both civil and criminal law recognizes online harassment as a crime in California.

• When a person follows and harasses another with malicious intent, they break the law. The victim can report the harassment, and steps will be taken accordingly. According to the California penal code 646.9, the victim need not prove the allegations made against the stalker.
• The state law declares that it is an offense to make repeated contact with someone online with the intent to annoy or harm them. If someone threatens another or uses obscene language online, that is also considered harassment and considered as an offense under California penal code 442.
• One may have to pay a heavy fine of up to $10,000 and serve up to one year in prison if charged with stalking. Depending on the severity of the case, the court may issue a restraining order if required.

Legal Protection: The laws are formed to help protect the victims from creepy stalkers who can cause harm to someone innocent. But what if an innocent faces such charges? How will he prove his innocence? In this day and age, it is not impossible to fall victim to such blames. Friends might tamper with your phone and send offensive texts to some random person, and you might face grave consequences for the same. It is, therefore, necessary to know what steps to take if you suddenly find yourself behind bars for the crimes you did not commit.

• The first thing you must do is to get out of jail by paying the bail money. It might very well be possible that you don’t have the money required to get you out of jail. What will you do then? Worry no more! You can access secure and reliable bail bonds services in Rancho Cucamonga to pay the bail and get out of the system.
• Once you are out of jail, make sure to employ the best attorney possible to represent you in the courtroom. You will need time to prepare yourself for the trial.

As a parent, you must teach your kids how to use digital gadgets. Teach them how to respect boundaries and avoid speaking to strangers on the internet.