Stalking and Harassment’ is a criminal offence in South Australia. The offence is often shortened to ‘Stalking’ and doesn’t only encompass following someone from place to place.
Actions that can constitute Stalking can take many forms, including:
- Following the person
- Loitering outside where the person lives or frequents (for example: work, gym, school)
- Entering property without permission
- Gives or sends offensive material
- Publishes offensive material in a way that will be found by the person (for example: by way of social media)
- Communicating in a way that would be expected to arouse fear
- Monitors, tracks, or surveils the person
- Acts in any way that could reasonably be expected to arouse fear
When any two or more occasions of any of the above things are done with the intention of causing physical or mental harm or serious apprehension of fear, that is stalking.
Stalking and Harassment is a serious offence and can carry with it a term of imprisonment of up to five (5) years (for an aggravated offence).
Online harassment or cyber-bullying can definitely fall within the definition of stalking. This is because the definition covers many possible actions when done with the intention or expectation of arousing fear. The offence of Stalking has been defined so widely to ensure that it encompasses all possible acts of Stalking including in the world of modern technology. The legislation even includes examples of stalking which include use of tracking devises, and drones, and hacking into email or social media accounts.
In practice we often see offences of Stalking that include social media posts and other forms of electronic communication. The communications themselves do not necessarily have to be threatening or scary; indeed, Stalking can be charged when there is a significant volume of communication.
If you are charged with an offence of Stalking, an Interim Intervention Order will often be imposed to prohibit you from contacting or being within a certain distance of that other person. This is important to bear in mind because the continuation of the Stalking behaviour would then constitute a breach of intervention order if that is in place (which is also a criminal offence!). This means that the consequences for these sorts of offences can escalate very quickly.
At Craig Caldicott Lawyers we are experienced in dealing with charges like Stalking.
