harassment on internet

[karen26]

What is the name of your state? ny

My sons fathers wife keeps harassing me on the net. She first sent me messages accusing me of being a drug abuser and threatening that her and my ex are going to take me to court for custody. I just put her profile on ignore and never responded to any msgs. Then she took a picture of me from my profile and made a profile exactly like mine and put my pic on it and in the "about me" section she put really bad things about me but as if i were saying it not her. Then after i had the police contact her she changed the "about me" section to include she was not impersonating me and said basically the same things but as if she were slamming me.

Then i had random guys calling me saying i gave them my number at bars/clubs and on the net. When i said it wasn't me they hung up. i found out later she did it. So i changed my number.

then i moved. and i don't have to notify my ex so i thought my whereabouts were anonomous. Then my ex who i still have feelings for called my sisters house looking for me and i answered. He said his wife left him etc and stupidly i gave him my cell number. He lied he was not leaving his wife. She was right there on speaker phone and eventually she started cussing me out. Well my cell is in my current boyfriends name. i live with him. they traced my cell # on a paysite and got my boyfriends address and home phone number. ex's wife called him while i was still at my sisters and slammed me. Told him some lies. so that disrupted my life for about a week. she called cps anonomously and sent them to my new home. but i know it was her because she did it at my last home.

now she's made another profile like mine but with no words and no pictures and is e mailing all of my friends and slandering me. What can i do? i made copies of all of her e mails and all of the profiles she made. but she only keeps them up long enough for me to notice and then destroys the accounts.

can i do anything legally? oh she told me her motiv was that she thought i shouldn't have seeked cs from my ex and if i drop the cs she will leave me alone. but i can't. the state makes him pay because i was low income. and he pays less than 400.00. And i know he makes over double what he turned in but i'm afraid to bring it up to my cw because i'm not sure if she will just explode.

harassment protection order?

 

[quincy]

An order of protection is designed to stop violent and harassing behavior and to protect you from the abuser and his/her abuse. You could file for an order of protection for harassment in the first degree (N.Y. 240.25), which is a Class B misdemeanor, or harassment in the 2nd degree (N.Y. 240.26), which is a Class A misdemeanor, or aggravated harassment (N.Y. 240.30). You can get an order through the Family Court (the Criminal Courts will issue one only if criminal charges have been filed, and in the Supreme Court you face more difficulty obtaining one, and it can be expensive). You may be issued a Temporary Order of Protection if you are in any danger, which does not seem to apply in your case.

A hearing will be scheduled. At the hearing, you should present all of the documentation you have - the police report you filed, all emails and communications you have, witnesses willing to testify to the harassing contact, the web profiles posted (if available), and anything else you have to prove continued harassing behavior. Your ex-spouse and his wife will be able to present information, as well, in their defense.

If an order is issued, it will order the harassment to stop, with no contact allowed by any means. Custody issues may be addressed during the Family Court hearing.

The emails that libel you could be reviewed by an attorney in your area to see if they are enough for a defamation suit against the current wife.

While protection orders are fairly easy to file, you may be wise to seek an attorney and review all of the information you have prior to filing.

 

[karen26]

An order of protection is designed to stop violent and harassing behavior and to protect you from the abuser and his/her abuse. You could file for an order of protection for harassment in the first degree (N.Y. 240.25), which is a Class B misdemeanor, or harassment in the 2nd degree (N.Y. 240.26), which is a Class A misdemeanor, or aggravated harassment (N.Y. 240.30). You can get an order through the Family Court (the Criminal Courts will issue one only if criminal charges have been filed, and in the Supreme Court you face more difficulty obtaining one, and it can be expensive). You may be issued a Temporary Order of Protection if you are in any danger, which does not seem to apply in your case.

A hearing will be scheduled. At the hearing, you should present all of the documentation you have - the police report you filed, all emails and communications you have, witnesses willing to testify to the harassing contact, the web profiles posted (if available), and anything else you have to prove continued harassing behavior. Your ex-spouse and his wife will be able to present information, as well, in their defense.

If an order is issued, it will order the harassment to stop, with no contact allowed by any means. Custody issues may be addressed during the Family Court hearing.

The emails that libel you could be reviewed by an attorney in your area to see if they are enough for a defamation suit against the current wife.

While protection orders are fairly easy to file, you may be wise to seek an attorney and review all of the information you have prior to filing.

which type of order would fall into this category though. she's never threatened physical harm that i can prove, she's never followed me, stalked me, seen me in public. it's purely verbal. and she lives in ks. so because it's on the net which state would be the jurisdiction. i have no profiles to show anyone. she has deleted them. i just have paper copies of things she sent me. could her lawyer just say i'm lieing and that i made them all up? if i can't prove it was her will anyone believe me?

what would qualify harassment 2nd degree? and what does a misdemeanor mean? can't i do this in civil court if there is no violence involved?

 

[quincy]

Ah, I didn't realize this woman lived in Kansas and you in New York. That makes a restraining order more difficult to get, although not necessarily impossible. What will be more difficult than the distance is the proof of harassment.

Under New York law, a personal protection order (also called a restraining order) can be issued for harassment in the second degree, which is harassment with the intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person. Harassment can be if someone "engages in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits acts which alarm or seriously annoy" another person, and which serves no legitimate purpose other than to harass and annoy.

Aggravated harassment in the second degree is when a person communicates (in any form - written or oral) and this communication causes annoyance or alarm, and when a person calls another person, with or without conversation, with no legitimate purpose other than to harass or annoy.

There does not have to be violence, or threats of violence, or any physical abuse of any kind, for a restraining order to be issued. And, yes, this would be a civil action, since you are asking the court to "protect" you from harassment but you are not accusing someone of a crime. You are not seeking punishment for this woman, but protection for yourself from her harassment. You would want to go through New York's Family Court, since this is not a criminal matter.

In order to get a restraining order, you would need to present to the judge as much evidence as you can gather about the harassment. This is going to be difficult for you if the websites are deleted. You need proof of harassment. If the judge finds evidence convincing, he can issue a restraining order, setting limits on the behavior of this woman. For instance, if the harassment is verbal, he can prohibit the person from having any written or oral contact with you. Charges could potentially be brought in New York for violations of the order of protection committed against you while she is in Kansas. There is definitely more difficulty with this, but, again, it is not impossible.

As for defamation, you would again need proof of the libelous material posted on the Internet. Emails sent only to you directly are not considered "published" and therefore cannot be used against someone in a defamation action. You would need to gather and save the defamatory Internet material, as well as demonstrate a reputational injury from what was posted.

Because of the problems involved in obtaining restraining orders against someone out-of-state, and the difficulty with proofs of harassment on the Internet, you should definitely consult with an attorney in New York, to better judge your options. Perhaps all it will take is a "cease and desist" letter from the attorney to your harasser, for her to stop her actions.

 

[karen26]

Ah, I didn't realize this woman lived in Kansas and you in New York. That makes a restraining order more difficult to get, although not necessarily impossible. What will be more difficult than the distance is the proof of harassment.

Under New York law, a personal protection order (also called a restraining order) can be issued for harassment in the second degree, which is harassment with the intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person. Harassment can be if someone "engages in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits acts which alarm or seriously annoy" another person, and which serves no legitimate purpose other than to harass and annoy.

Aggravated harassment in the second degree is when a person communicates (in any form - written or oral) and this communication causes annoyance or alarm, and when a person calls another person, with or without conversation, with no legitimate purpose other than to harass or annoy.

There does not have to be violence, or threats of violence, or any physical abuse of any kind, for a restraining order to be issued. And, yes, this would be a civil action, since you are asking the court to "protect" you from harassment but you are not accusing someone of a crime. You are not seeking punishment for this woman, but protection for yourself from her harassment. You would want to go through New York's Family Court, since this is not a criminal matter.

In order to get a restraining order, you would need to present to the judge as much evidence as you can gather about the harassment. This is going to be difficult for you if the websites are deleted. You need proof of harassment. If the judge finds evidence convincing, he can issue a restraining order, setting limits on the behavior of this woman. For instance, if the harassment is verbal, he can prohibit the person from having any written or oral contact with you. Charges could potentially be brought in New York for violations of the order of protection committed against you while she is in Kansas. There is definitely more difficulty with this, but, again, it is not impossible.

As for defamation, you would again need proof of the libelous material posted on the Internet. Emails sent only to you directly are not considered "published" and therefore cannot be used against someone in a defamation action. You would need to gather and save the defamatory Internet material, as well as demonstrate a reputational injury from what was posted.

Because of the problems involved in obtaining restraining orders against someone out-of-state, and the difficulty with proofs of harassment on the Internet, you should definitely consult with an attorney in New York, to better judge your options. Perhaps all it will take is a "cease and desist" letter from the attorney to your harasser, for her to stop her actions.

ok thanks for the information. you said that this wasn't a criminal matter. however can i make it one? what steps should i take to make it a criminal matter? could the police start up an investigation if i report what evidence i have? how about the county attorney? can i still get an ip address from a deleted profile? it's a lot to take in and each harassment case is different i've noticed!

 

[quincy]

You can always file a police report, but if your ex and his wife live in Kansas, I am not sure the police will pursue an investigation. You could contact the police and see.

I really think you would be wise to sit down with a New York lawyer and review all that you have gathered as evidence of harassment.

Review with this attorney all of the emails sent to you and to your friends. Obtain a copy of the police report filed earlier and a copy of the CPS report, if possible. Get the names of all of the people you know who have been contacted by the wife - your sister, your boyfriend, the friends who received emails - and see if they will be willing to testify. The websites, if already deleted, will not be evidence of harassment unless other people saw them and can testify as to the content.

I assume your main goal is to stop the harassment, which a restraining order, or even something as simple as a "cease and desist" letter, could or should accomplish. Trying to bring defamation and harassment charges against your ex-husband's wife would be both expensive and time-consuming. The lawyer you consult should be able to give you an idea of the type of success you might have with such suits, based on the evidence you show him.