Full Text of HB2935 97th General Assembly
HB2935eng 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HB2935 Engrossed | | LRB097 06237 RLC 51035 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 Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 12-7.5 as follows:
| 6 | | (720 ILCS 5/12-7.5)
| 7 | | Sec. 12-7.5. Cyberstalking.
| 8 | | (a) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she engages | 9 | | in a course of conduct using electronic communication directed | 10 | | at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that | 11 | | would cause a reasonable person to: | 12 | | (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third | 13 | | person; or | 14 | | (2) suffer other emotional distress. | 15 | | (a-3) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she, | 16 | | knowingly and without
lawful justification, on at least 2 | 17 | | separate occasions, harasses another person
through the use of | 18 | | electronic communication and:
| 19 | | (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or | 20 | | future bodily harm,
sexual assault, confinement, or | 21 | | restraint and the threat is directed towards
that person or | 22 | | a family member of that person; or
| 23 | | (2) places that person or a family member of that |
| | | HB2935 Engrossed | - 2 - | LRB097 06237 RLC 51035 b |
|
| 1 | | person in reasonable
apprehension of immediate or future | 2 | | bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement,
or restraint; or
| 3 | | (3) at any time knowingly solicits the commission of an | 4 | | act by any person which would be a violation of this Code | 5 | | directed towards that person or a family member of that | 6 | | person. | 7 | | (a-5) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she, | 8 | | knowingly and without lawful justification, creates and | 9 | | maintains an Internet website or webpage which is accessible to | 10 | | one or more third parties for a period of at least 24 hours, | 11 | | and which contains statements harassing another person and: | 12 | | (1) which communicates a threat of immediate or future | 13 | | bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint, | 14 | | where the threat is directed towards that person or a | 15 | | family member of that person, or | 16 | | (2) which places that person or a family member of that | 17 | | person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future | 18 | | bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint, or | 19 | | (3) which knowingly solicits the commission of an act | 20 | | by any person which would be a violation of this Code | 21 | | directed towards that person or a family member of that | 22 | | person.
| 23 | | (b) Sentence. Cyberstalking is a Class 4 felony. A second | 24 | | or subsequent
conviction for cyberstalking is a Class 3 felony.
| 25 | | (c) For purposes of this Section: | 26 | | (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including |
| | | HB2935 Engrossed | - 3 - | LRB097 06237 RLC 51035 b |
|
| 1 | | but not limited to acts in which a defendant directly, | 2 | | indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, | 3 | | method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes, | 4 | | surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person, | 5 | | engages in other non-consensual contact, or interferes | 6 | | with or damages a person's property or pet. The | 7 | | incarceration in a penal institution of a person who | 8 | | commits the course of conduct is not a bar to prosecution | 9 | | under this Section. | 10 | | (2) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of | 11 | | signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of | 12 | | any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, | 13 | | radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical | 14 | | system. "Electronic communication" includes transmissions | 15 | | through an electronic device including, but not limited to, | 16 | | a telephone, cellular phone, computer, or pager, which | 17 | | communication includes, but is not limited to, e-mail, | 18 | | instant message, text message, or voice mail by a computer | 19 | | through the Internet to another computer . | 20 | | (3) "Emotional distress" means significant mental | 21 | | suffering, anxiety or alarm. | 22 | | (4) "Harass"
means to engage in a knowing and willful | 23 | | course of conduct directed at a
specific person
that | 24 | | alarms, torments, or terrorizes that person. | 25 | | (5) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with | 26 | | the victim that is initiated or continued without the |
| | | HB2935 Engrossed | - 4 - | LRB097 06237 RLC 51035 b |
|
| 1 | | victim's consent, including but not limited to being in the | 2 | | physical presence of the victim; appearing within the sight | 3 | | of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim in a | 4 | | public place or on private property; appearing at the | 5 | | workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or | 6 | | remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the | 7 | | victim; or placing an object on, or delivering an object | 8 | | to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim. | 9 | | (6) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's | 10 | | circumstances, with the victim's knowledge of the | 11 | | defendant and the defendant's prior acts. | 12 | | (7) "Third party" means any person other than the | 13 | | person violating these provisions and the person or persons | 14 | | towards whom the violator's actions are directed. | 15 | | (d) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile service | 16 | | providers, and providers of information services, including, | 17 | | but not limited to, Internet service providers and hosting | 18 | | service providers, are not liable under this Section, except | 19 | | for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the | 20 | | transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications | 21 | | or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other | 22 | | related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or | 23 | | information services used by others in violation of this | 24 | | Section. | 25 | | (Source: P.A. 95-849, eff. 1-1-09; 96-328, eff. 8-11-09; | 26 | | 96-686, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)
|
| | | HB2935 Engrossed | - 5 - | LRB097 06237 RLC 51035 b |
|
| 1 | | Section 10. The Harassing and Obscene Communications Act is | 2 | | amended by changing Section 1-2 as follows: | 3 | | (720 ILCS 135/1-2) | 4 | | Sec. 1-2. Harassment through electronic communications. | 5 | | (a) Harassment through electronic communications is the | 6 | | use of electronic
communication for any of the following | 7 | | purposes: | 8 | | (1) Making any comment, request, suggestion or | 9 | | proposal which is obscene
with an intent to offend; | 10 | | (2) Interrupting, with the intent to harass, the | 11 | | telephone service or the
electronic communication service | 12 | | of any person; | 13 | | (3) Transmitting to any person, with the intent to | 14 | | harass and regardless
of whether the communication is read | 15 | | in its entirety or at all, any file,
document, or other | 16 | | communication which prevents that person from using his or
| 17 | | her telephone service or electronic communications device; | 18 | | (3.1) Transmitting an electronic communication or | 19 | | knowingly inducing a
person to transmit an electronic | 20 | | communication for the purpose of harassing
another person | 21 | | who is under 13 years of age, regardless of whether the | 22 | | person
under 13 years of age consents to the harassment, if | 23 | | the defendant is at least
16 years of age at the time of | 24 | | the commission of the offense; |
| | | HB2935 Engrossed | - 6 - | LRB097 06237 RLC 51035 b |
|
| 1 | | (4) Threatening injury to the person or to the property | 2 | | of the person to
whom an electronic communication is | 3 | | directed or to any of his or her family or
household | 4 | | members; or | 5 | | (5) Knowingly permitting any electronic communications | 6 | | device to be used
for any of the purposes mentioned in this | 7 | | subsection (a). | 8 | | (b) As used in this Act: | 9 | | (1) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of | 10 | | signs, signals,
writings, images, sounds, data or | 11 | | intelligence of any nature transmitted in
whole or in part | 12 | | by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric or
| 13 | | photo-optical system. "Electronic communication" includes | 14 | | transmissions through an electronic device including, but | 15 | | not limited to, a telephone, cellular phone, computer, or | 16 | | pager, which communication includes, but is not limited to, | 17 | | e-mail, instant message, text message, or voice mail by a | 18 | | computer through the Internet to another computer . | 19 | | (2) "Family or household member" includes spouses, | 20 | | former spouses,
parents,
children, stepchildren and other | 21 | | persons related by blood or by present or
prior
marriage, | 22 | | persons who share or formerly shared a common dwelling, | 23 | | persons who
have or allegedly share a blood relationship | 24 | | through a child, persons who have
or have had a dating or | 25 | | engagement relationship, and persons with disabilities
and | 26 | | their personal assistants. For purposes of this Act, |
| | | HB2935 Engrossed | - 7 - | LRB097 06237 RLC 51035 b |
|
| 1 | | neither a casual
acquaintanceship nor ordinary | 2 | | fraternization between 2 individuals in
business or social | 3 | | contexts shall be deemed to constitute a dating
| 4 | | relationship. | 5 | | (c) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile service | 6 | | providers, and providers of information services, including, | 7 | | but not limited to, Internet service providers and hosting | 8 | | service providers, are not liable under this Section, except | 9 | | for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the | 10 | | transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications | 11 | | or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other | 12 | | related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or | 13 | | information services used by others in violation of this | 14 | | Section. | 15 | | (Source: P.A. 95-849, eff. 1-1-09; 95-984, eff. 6-1-09; 96-328, | 16 | | eff. 8-11-09.)
| 17 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 18 | | becoming law. |
|