The Virginia Defamation Law Blog
Harassment and bullying can take place in many different forms. Sometimes the conduct is actionable in a court of law, and sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes it involves defamation of character, whereas other times the harassment takes the form of electronic stalking. Before scheduling an appointment to speak with a lawyer, you should know the difference. In a nutshell: if the bad actor’s harassing activity consists primarily of spreading false rumors about a person on social media, then we’re most likely dealing with the law of defamation. Conversely, if the harassment consists of persistent threats of sexual assault or physical bodily harm, you’re dealing with the law of criminal stalking. Defamation occurs when a person publishes an “actionable statement” with the requisite intent. Stalking occurs when a person “on more than one occasion engages in conduct directed at another person with the intent to place, or when he knows or reasonably should know that the conduct places that other person in reasonable fear of death, criminal sexual assault, or bodily injury to that other person or to that other person’s family or household member.” (See Va. Code ยง 18.2-60.3). I write about defamation law all the time, so the rest of this post will focus on what stalking is and how it is different.
A defendant commits the crime of stalking when the following elements are met:
- The defendant directed his or her conduct toward the victim on at least two occasions;
- The defendant intended to cause fear or knew or should have known that his or her conduct would cause fear; and
- The defendant’s conduct caused the victim to experience reasonable fear of death, criminal sexual assault, or bodily injury.