HB2935 EnrolledLRB097 06237 RLC 51035 b

1    AN ACT concerning criminal law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by changing
5Section 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
9in a course of conduct using electronic communication directed
10at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that
11would 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,
16knowingly and without lawful justification, on at least 2
17separate occasions, harasses another person through the use of
18electronic 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

 

 

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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,
8knowingly and without lawful justification, creates and
9maintains an Internet website or webpage which is accessible to
10one or more third parties for a period of at least 24 hours,
11and 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
24or 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

 

 

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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

 

 

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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
16providers, and providers of information services, including,
17but not limited to, Internet service providers and hosting
18service providers, are not liable under this Section, except
19for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the
20transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications
21or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other
22related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or
23information services used by others in violation of this
24Section.
25(Source: P.A. 95-849, eff. 1-1-09; 96-328, eff. 8-11-09;
2696-686, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)
 

 

 

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1    Section 10. The Harassing and Obscene Communications Act is
2amended 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
6use of electronic communication for any of the following
7purposes:
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;

 

 

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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,

 

 

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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
6providers, and providers of information services, including,
7but not limited to, Internet service providers and hosting
8service providers, are not liable under this Section, except
9for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the
10transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications
11or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other
12related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or
13information services used by others in violation of this
14Section.
15(Source: P.A. 95-849, eff. 1-1-09; 95-984, eff. 6-1-09; 96-328,
16eff. 8-11-09.)
 
17    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
18becoming law.