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- § 784.048. Stalking; definitions; penalties
- § 934.425 Installation of tracking devices or tracking 21 applications; exceptions; penalties
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Fla. Stat. § 784.048. Stalking; definitions; penalties. (2012)
- (1) As used in this section, the term:
- (a) "Harass" means to engage in a course of conduct directed at a specific person which causes substantial emotional distress to that person and serves no legitimate purpose.
- (b) "Course of conduct" means a pattern of conduct composed of a series of acts over a period of time, however short, which evidences a continuity of purpose. The term does not include constitutionally protected activity such as picketing or other organized protests.
- (c) "Credible threat" means a verbal or nonverbal threat, or a combination of the two, including threats delivered by electronic communication or implied by a pattern of conduct, which places the person who is the target of the threat in reasonable fear for his or her safety or the safety of his or her family members or individuals closely associated with the person, and which is made with the apparent ability to carry out the threat to cause such harm. It is not necessary to prove that the person making the threat had the intent to actually carry out the threat. The present incarceration of the person making the threat is not a bar to prosecution under this section.
- (d) "Cyberstalk" means to engage in a course of conduct to communicate, or to cause to be communicated, words, images, or language by or through the use of electronic mail or electronic communication, directed at a specific person, causing substantial emotional distress to that person and serving no legitimate purpose.
- (2) A person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks another person commits the offense of stalking, a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
- (3) A person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks another person and makes a credible threat to that person commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
- (4) A person who, after an injunction for protection against repeat violence, sexual violence, or dating violence pursuant to s. 784.046, or an injunction for protection against domestic violence pursuant to s. 741.30, or after any other court-imposed prohibition of conduct toward the subject person or that person's property, knowingly, willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks another person commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
- (5) A person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks a child under 16 years of age commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
- (6) A law enforcement officer may arrest, without a warrant, any person that he or she has probable cause to believe has violated this section.
- (7) A person who, after having been sentenced for a violation of s. 794.011, s. 800.04, or s. 847.0135(5) and prohibited from contacting the victim of the offense under s. 921.244, willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks the victim commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
- (8) The punishment imposed under this section shall run consecutive to any former sentence imposed for a conviction for any offense under s. 794.011, s. 800.04, or s. 847.0135(5).
- (9)
- (a) The sentencing court shall consider, as a part of any sentence, issuing an order restraining the defendant from any contact with the victim, which may be valid for up to 10 years, as determined by the court. It is the intent of the Legislature that the length of any such order be based upon the seriousness of the facts before the court, the probability of future violations by the perpetrator, and the safety of the victim and his or her family members or individuals closely associated with the victim.
- (b) The order may be issued by the court even if the defendant is sentenced to a state prison or a county jail or even if the imposition of the sentence is suspended and the defendant is placed on probation.
Electronic Stalking
§ 934.425 Installation of tracking devices or tracking 21 applications; exceptions; penalties
- (1) As used in this section, the term:
- (a) “Business entity” means any form of corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, joint venture, business trust, or sole proprietorship that conducts business in this state.
- (b) “Tracking application” means any software program whose primary purpose is to track or identify the location or movement of an individual.
- (c) “Tracking device” means any device whose primary purpose is to reveal its location or movement by the transmission of electronic signals.
- (d) “Person” means an individual but does not include a business entity.
- (2) Except as provided in subsection (4), a person may not knowingly install a tracking device or tracking application on another person’s property without the other person’s consent.
- (3) For purposes of this section, a person’s consent is presumed to be revoked if:
- (a) The consenting person and the person to whom consent was given are lawfully married and one person files a petition for dissolution of marriage from the other; or
- (b) The consenting person or the person to whom consent was given files an injunction for protection against the other person pursuant tos. 741.30, s. 741.315, s. 784.046, or s. 784.0485.
- (4) This section does not apply to:
- (a) A law enforcement officer as defined in s. 943.10, or any local, state, federal, or military law enforcement agency, that lawfully installs a tracking device or tracking application on another person’s property as part of a criminal investigation.
- (b) A parent or legal guardian of a minor child who installs a tracking device or tracking application on the minor child’s property if:
- 1. The parents or legal guardians are lawfully married to each other and are not separated or otherwise living apart, and either parent or legal guardian consents to the installation of the tracking device or tracking application;
- 2. The parent or legal guardian is the sole surviving parent or legal guardian of the minor child;
- 3. The parent or legal guardian has sole custody of the minor child; or
- 4. The parents or legal guardians are divorced, separated, or otherwise living apart and both consent to the installation of the tracking device or tracking application.
- (c) A caregiver of an elderly person or disabled adult, as those terms are defined in s. 825.101, if the elderly person’s or disabled adult’s treating physician certifies that the installation of a tracking device or tracking application onto the elderly person’s or disabled adult’s property is necessary to ensure the safety of the elderly person or disabled adult.
- (d) A person acting in good faith on behalf of a business entity for a legitimate business purpose. This paragraph does not apply to a person engaged in private investigation, as defined in s. 493.6101, on behalf of another person unless such activities would otherwise be exempt under this subsection if performed by the person engaging the private investigator.
- (e) An owner or lessee of a motor vehicle that installs, or directs the installation of, a tracking device or tracking application on such vehicle during the period of ownership or lease, provided that:
- 1. The tracking device or tracking application is removed before the vehicle’s title is transferred or the vehicle’s lease expires,
- 2. The new owner of the vehicle, in the case of a sale, or the lessor of the vehicle, in the case of an expired lease, consents in writing to the nonremoval of the tracking device or tracking application; or
- 3. The owner of the vehicle at the time of the installation of the tracking device or tracking application was the original manufacturer of the vehicle.
- (5) A person who violates this section commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.