HB4198eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
HB4198 Engrossed LRB095 15147 RLC 41112 b

1     AN ACT concerning criminal law.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Harassing and Obscene Communications Act is
5 amended by changing Sections 1-2 and 2 as follows:
 
6     (720 ILCS 135/1-2)
7     Sec. 1-2. Harassment through electronic communications.
8     (a) Harassment through electronic communications is the
9 use of electronic communication for any of the following
10 purposes:
11         (1) Making any comment, request, suggestion or
12     proposal which is obscene with an intent to offend;
13         (2) Interrupting, with the intent to harass, the
14     telephone service or the electronic communication service
15     of any person;
16         (3) Transmitting to any person, with the intent to
17     harass and regardless of whether the communication is read
18     in its entirety or at all, any file, document, or other
19     communication which prevents that person from using his or
20     her telephone service or electronic communications device;
21         (3.1) Transmitting an electronic communication or
22     knowingly inducing a person to transmit an electronic
23     communication for the purpose of harassing another person

 

 

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1     who is under 13 years of age, regardless of whether the
2     person under 13 years of age consents to the harassment, if
3     the defendant is at least 16 years of age at the time of
4     the commission of the offense;
5         (3.5) Electronically communicating directly with
6     another person with the intent to knowingly intimidate or
7     cause emotional distress to another person or with the
8     intent that physical harm would result from the
9     communication and when the person initiating the
10     communication is 18 years of age or older and the party
11     communicated with is under 18 years of age;
12         (4) Threatening injury to the person or to the property
13     of the person to whom an electronic communication is
14     directed or to any of his or her family or household
15     members; or
16         (5) Knowingly permitting any electronic communications
17     device to be used for any of the purposes mentioned in this
18     subsection (a).
19         (a-5) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile
20     service providers, and providers of information services,
21     including, but not limited to, Internet service providers
22     and hosting service providers, are not liable under this
23     Section, except for willful and wanton misconduct, by
24     virtue of the transmission, storage, or caching of
25     electronic communications or messages of others or by
26     virtue of the provision of other related

 

 

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1     telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or
2     information services used by others in violation of this
3     Section.
4     (b) As used in this Act:
5         (1) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of
6     signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, data or
7     intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part
8     by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric or
9     photo-optical system.
10         (2) "Family or household member" includes spouses,
11     former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren and other
12     persons related by blood or by present or prior marriage,
13     persons who share or formerly shared a common dwelling,
14     persons who have or allegedly share a blood relationship
15     through a child, persons who have or have had a dating or
16     engagement relationship, and persons with disabilities and
17     their personal assistants. For purposes of this Act,
18     neither a casual acquaintanceship nor ordinary
19     fraternization between 2 individuals in business or social
20     contexts shall be deemed to constitute a dating
21     relationship.
22 (Source: P.A. 90-578, eff. 6-1-98; 91-878, eff. 1-1-01.)
 
23     (720 ILCS 135/2)  (from Ch. 134, par. 16.5)
24     Sec. 2. Sentence.
25     (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a person who

 

 

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1 violates any of the provisions of Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of
2 this Act is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Except as provided
3 in subsection (b), a second or subsequent violation of Section
4 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act is a Class A misdemeanor, for which
5 the court shall impose a minimum of 14 days in jail or, if
6 public or community service is established in the county in
7 which the offender was convicted, 240 hours of public or
8 community service.
9     (b) In any of the following circumstances, a person who
10 violates Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act shall be guilty of
11 a Class 4 felony:
12         (1) The person has 3 or more prior violations in the
13     last 10 years of harassment by telephone under Section 1-1
14     of this Act, harassment through electronic communications
15     under Section 1-2 of this Act, or any similar offense of
16     any state;
17         (2) The person has previously violated the harassment
18     by telephone provisions of Section 1-1 of this Act or the
19     harassment through electronic communications provisions of
20     Section 1-2 of this Act or committed any similar offense in
21     any state with the same victim or a member of the victim's
22     family or household;
23         (3) At the time of the offense, the offender was under
24     conditions of bail, probation, mandatory supervised
25     release or was the subject of an order of protection, in
26     this or any other state, prohibiting contact with the

 

 

HB4198 Engrossed - 5 - LRB095 15147 RLC 41112 b

1     victim or any member of the victim's family or household;
2         (4) In the course of the offense, the offender
3     threatened to kill the victim or any member of the victim's
4     family or household;
5         (5) The person has been convicted in the last 10 years
6     of a forcible felony as defined in Section 2-8 of the
7     Criminal Code of 1961; or
8         (6) The person violates paragraph (4.1) of Section 1-1
9     or paragraph (3.1) or (3.5) of subsection (a) of Section
10     1-2.
11 (Source: P.A. 90-578, eff. 6-1-98; 91-878, eff. 1-1-01.)