Criminal Harassment and Consequences

Criminal harassment, outlined in section 264(1) of the Criminal Code, is a dual procedure offence, offering the Crown the option to elect by indictment for serious charges or summarily for less severe cases.

Legal Implications:

• Maximum Penalty:
  • For an indictable charge, the maximum penalty can be as high as 10 years in prison, signifying the seriousness of the offence.

• Variety of Actions Constituting Harassment:
  • Harassment charges can stem from activities such as stalking, repeated communications, watching or besetting a dwelling-house, or any generally threatening conduct directed towards an individual over time.

Essential Element: Reasonable Fear

• Defining Reasonable Fear:
  • The prosecution must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the person being harassed had reasonable fear for their safety or the safety of anyone known to them. This fear can be induced by persistent unwanted communications, stalking, or threatening behavior over time.

• Gray Areas and Defensibility:
  • Defending against a harassment charge often involves navigating gray areas where the line between persistent communication and criminal harassment is blurred. Success in these cases often depends on the credibility and reliability of the accused compared to the alleged victim.

Legal Strategy and Possible Outcomes:

• Case-Specific Assessment:
  • An experienced criminal lawyer assesses the conduct in question in light of established case law to determine the defensibility of the charge.  Then strategic decision making and a cost-benefit analysis  is conducted  to compare the odds of winning a particular case at trial, versus the best possible negotiated resolution. 

• Negotiation and Outcomes:
  • Depending on the severity of the harassment, negotiations may lead to positive outcomes such as a conditional discharge, a peace bond coupled with a withdrawal of the charge, or a straight withdrawal  or, in more serious cases, short jail terms.

Similar Offence: Repeated Phone Calls with Harassment Intent

• Analogous Offence:
  • The Criminal Code includes a separate charge related to repeated  phone calls for harassment purposes. While similar to criminal harassment, it has distinct penalties.  The maximum jail term if the Crown elects by indictment is 2 years.

Range of Outcomes:

• Defendable Cases:
  • Defendable cases may result in avoiding a criminal record, conditional discharges, or a negotiated peace bonds coupled with a withdrawal of the charge, or a straight withdrawal,  for less severe offences.

• Serious Consequences:
  • In cases of significant stalking and harassment causing substantial fear, an accused may face short, mid-range or longer jail terms depending on the severity of the conduct.  The possibility of significant jail terms emphasizes the gravity with which the legal system views such offences.

Conclusion:

Criminal harassment cases involve a spectrum of behaviors, consequences, and potential outcomes. The nuanced nature of these cases underscores the importance of legal expertise in assessing charges, crafting defence strategies, negotiating favorable  outcomes,  or proceeding to trial, based on the unique circumstances of each case.

For personalized legal advice and guidance tailored to your specific situation, consult with Kruse Law Firm and receive a free consultation.

It is hard to draw the line where ongoing communication such as phone calls, emails or text messages becomes harassing behavior. I have done many of these cases over the years and I have seen so many cases that are perhaps right on the line. However, I know from the case law when the line has actually been crossed. Sometimes in that grey area where the charge is defendable, you can win a case involving some degree of persistent communication.

Winning these cases often depends on how the client comes across in court in terms of being credible and reliable compared to the alleged victim. I hate to say it, but sometime the alleged victim may be exaggerating their fear or the alleged fear does not even exist. Harassment will not be proven when there is, for example, a break-up of a relationship and a woman sends a man or vice versa, 6 pleasant and non-threatening emails over the course of 6 days professing their love and asking to get back together. Well, maybe the person who has received the 6 emails may feel they are being subjectively harassed and it is causing them subjective fear, but their fear is not objectively reasonable. But at some point, it crosses the line where the crown may be able to prove criminal harassment.

An experienced criminal lawyer will apply the case law to a given fact situation and will know whether the conduct in question supports a harassment charge. A good lawyer is going to know whether harassment can be proven when they see it and advise the client accordingly. For criminal harassment cases that are not defendable, for a less aggravated offence sometimes you can avoid a criminal record. Occasionally, you can get a conditional discharge which is not a criminal record Sometimes you can even negotiate a peace bond and get the harassment charge withdraw. But those are for pretty minor harassment cases to be honest with you because the judges and crown attorneys take these cases very seriously. When it is more serious stalking and significant harassing behaviour causing a lot of fear, an accused will often face a short jail term. Even in these more serious factual situations, you can sometimes avoid a jail term with a very good personal background, no prior criminal record etc. and through involved plea negotiations.

There is also a separate charge in the Criminal Code which is basically similar to criminal harassment. You could also be charged under the criminal harassment section for this type of charge, but repeatedly making phone calls for the purpose of harassing someone is a similar type of offence, with its own similar type of penalties. But it is really kind of analogous because criminal harassment also encompasses repeated communications as well. Criminal harassment is an offence with a wide range of possible outcomes or consequences; it is also an offence which is often defendable, depending on whether the conduct in question has crossed the line. Obviously, if you intentionally follow someone on two or three different days that is going to cause fear and meets the definition of harassment in and of itself. However, there can be grey areas such as where there are ongoing text messages or emails that are innocuous and non-threatening where the victim has not advised you to stop contacting them. But at some point the sheer volume of ongoing contact will instill both subjective and objective fear in the victim and clearly meets the definition of criminal harassment.

So there you have it. We represent a lot of clients who have been charged with criminal harassment and I wanted to share with you today exactly what it’s all about.