Arizona's New Bill on Cyber Stalking
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Arizona House Bill : http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=HB2248
Audrey first met Christopher King in October of 2004 when she worked as a physical therapist at a Valley clinic.
He was a patient there. But it wasn't until he saw her picture on MySpace.com several years later, according to police reports that he tried to contact her.
Audrey told ASU police that she was very clear "she was not interested in dating him."
That, police say, started an assault of vicious e-mails and phone calls that "became progressively threatening and obscene in their content."
A police log, obtained by the ABC15 Investigators, details the phone calls.
On January 29th, a police log detailed a phone call made by King.
"You're going to get ****** up, you whore," he said to Audrey.
In a police interview, King confessed to creating a bogus "Craig's List" account, and writing that Audrey was a prostitute and looking for customers.
King was charged with three misdemeanor counts, including ARS 13-2921, the cyberstalking law, created in 1999.
Cyberstalking is nothing new.
In the late 1990s, then U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno warned of how criminals can use the internet to terrorize their victims.
"The internet is like your house," she said. "If you open the door and you leave that door open, you know that anyone can walk through the door," said Sgt. Russ Skinner, with the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office.
Now, with technology like Key Tracking and GPS systems, it can be easier for stalkers to pinpoint their victims, wherever they are, said Chrysalis Community Relations Director Lorie Simms.
Key-tracking records every stroke on your keyboard and GPS systems can be activated on your cell phone and car.
In another real-life situation to take in. Sue share a child with her ex-husband. E-mail is the only way they connect. However, she claims he uses it to berate her and her parenting skills.
"You picked up our daughter 20 minutes late, " he wrote. "You didn't give her the school lunch."
Even in this day and age, cyberstalking cases are hard to prosecute.
Gail Thackeray, counsel for the Arizona Attorney Generals office, said cyberstalking cases "are time-consuming, require subpoenas from internet providers, and your average cop doesn't know how to deal with the cases," she said "Some internet providers don't keep records."
It's head and shoulders above what it used to be like, she said. "But there's still more that needs to be done," she added.
Here's a third real-life situation. Karen left her husband years ago. But she feels the internet still keeps him in her life, whether she likes it or not. After filing orders of protection against him, changing her name and social security number, she logged onto her classmates.com account only to find a friend say, 'We know where you live'.
"At that moment, you get the sinking feeling, like here we go again," Karen said.
Experts say it's important to call police, file an order of protection, and get everything documented, even if that means taking pictures of text messages, instant messages, and anything your stalker sends your way.
If the cyber attack comes from a stranger, contact your internet provider directly.
Try to suspend any contact with that person. Experts say an e-mail, or any response, sometimes fuels their anger.
"It's all about control," said domestic violence legal advocate Brady Clevenger. "Domestic violence is not about beating anyone up. They can beat you up emotionally or financially by withholding a paycheck," he said.
Christopher King pled guilty to one count of harassment and received a $1,000 fine. But for many victims, it doesn't stop there.
"I feel like I'm being held in a tub of water. Just when I come up, (I hear from him again)," said Karen.
(Source: abc15.com) Comments can be emailed at : http://www.murphymilanojournal.blogspot.com
