[ Home ] [ ILCS ] [ Search ] [ Bottom ]
[ Other General Assemblies ]
Public Act 91-0878
SB1273 Enrolled LRB9109312RCks
AN ACT to amend the Harassing and Obscene Communications
Act by changing Sections 1-1, 1-2, and 2.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Harassing and Obscene Communications Act
is amended by changing Sections 1-1, 1-2, and 2 as follows:
(720 ILCS 135/1-1) (from Ch. 134, par. 16.4-1)
Sec. 1-1. Harassment by telephone). Harassment by
telephone is use of telephone communication for any of the
following purposes:
(1) Making any comment, request, suggestion or proposal
which is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy or indecent with
an intent to offend; or
(2) Making a telephone call, whether or not conversation
ensues, with intent to abuse, threaten or harass any person
at the called number; or
(3) Making or causing the telephone of another
repeatedly to ring, with intent to harass any person at the
called number; or
(4) Making repeated telephone calls, during which
conversation ensues, solely to harass any person at the
called number; or
(4.1) Making a telephone call or knowingly inducing a
person to make a telephone call for the purpose of harassing
another person who is under 13 years of age, regardless of
whether the person under 13 years of age consents to the
harassment, if the defendant is at least 16 years of age at
the time of the commission of the offense; or
(5) Knowingly permitting any telephone under one's
control to be used for any of the purposes mentioned herein.
Every telephone directory published for distribution to
members of the general public shall contain a notice setting
forth a summary of the provisions of this Section. Such
notice shall be printed in type which is no smaller than any
other type on the same page and shall be preceded by the word
"WARNING". All telephone companies in this State shall
cooperate with law enforcement agencies in using their
facilities and personnel to detect and prevent violations of
this Act.
(Source: P.A. 80-795.)
(720 ILCS 135/1-2)
Sec. 1-2. Harassment through electronic communications.
(a) Harassment through electronic communications is the
use of electronic communication for any of the following
purposes:
(1) Making any comment, request, suggestion or
proposal which is obscene with an intent to offend;
(2) Interrupting, with the intent to harass, the
telephone service or the electronic communication service
of any person;
(3) Transmitting to any person, with the intent to
harass and regardless of whether the communication is
read in its entirety or at all, any file, document, or
other communication which prevents that person from using
his or her telephone service or electronic communications
device;
(3.1) Transmitting an electronic communication or
knowingly inducing a person to transmit an electronic
communication for the purpose of harassing another person
who is under 13 years of age, regardless of whether the
person under 13 years of age consents to the harassment,
if the defendant is at least 16 years of age at the time
of the commission of the offense;
(4) Threatening injury to the person or to the
property of the person to whom an electronic
communication is directed or to any of his or her family
or household members; or
(5) Knowingly permitting any electronic
communications device to be used for any of the purposes
mentioned in this subsection (a).
(b) As used in this Act:
(1) "Electronic communication" means any transfer
of signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, data or
intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in
part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric or
photo-optical system.
(2) "Family or household member" includes spouses,
former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren and other
persons related by blood or by present or prior marriage,
persons who share or formerly shared a common dwelling,
persons who have or allegedly share a blood relationship
through a child, persons who have or have had a dating or
engagement relationship, and persons with disabilities
and their personal assistants. For purposes of this Act,
neither a casual acquaintanceship nor ordinary
fraternization between 2 individuals in business or
social contexts shall be deemed to constitute a dating
relationship.
(Source: P.A. 90-578, eff. 6-1-98.)
(720 ILCS 135/2) (from Ch. 134, par. 16.5)
Sec. 2. Sentence.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a person who
violates any of the provisions of Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of
this Act is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Except as
provided in subsection (b), a second or subsequent violation
of Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act is a Class A
misdemeanor, for which the court shall impose a minimum of 14
days in jail or, if public or community service is
established in the county in which the offender was
convicted, 240 hours of public or community service.
(b) In any of the following circumstances, a person who
violates Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act shall be guilty
of a Class 4 felony:
(1) The person has 3 or more prior violations in
the last 10 years of harassment by telephone under
Section 1-1 of this Act, harassment through electronic
communications under Section 1-2 of this Act, or any
similar offense of any state;
(2) The person has previously violated the
harassment by telephone provisions of Section 1-1 of this
Act or the harassment through electronic communications
provisions of Section 1-2 of this Act or committed any
similar offense in any state with the same victim or a
member of the victim's family or household;
(3) At the time of the offense, the offender was
under conditions of bail, probation, mandatory supervised
release or was the subject of an order of protection, in
this or any other state, prohibiting contact with the
victim or any member of the victim's family or household;
(4) In the course of the offense, the offender
threatened to kill the victim or any member of the
victim's family or household; or
(5) The person has been convicted in the last 10
years of a forcible felony as defined in Section 2-8 of
the Criminal Code of 1961; or .
(6) The person violates paragraph (4.1) of Section
1-1 or paragraph (3.1) of subsection (a) of Section 1-2.
(Source: P.A. 89-547, eff. 1-1-97; 90-578, eff. 6-1-98.)
[ Top ]