Have you been charged with criminal Harassment in Oregon?The term Harassment covers a wide variety of behaviors, including but not limited to:
- Verbal abuse;
- Inappropriate jokes;
- Posting social media comments about someone else; or
- Posting social media comments about someone else; or
- Bullying.
You may be wondering where the line is on what behavior could result in a criminal misdemeanor charge, and what is allowed. You may wind up with a criminal charge, even if the State is unable to prove the following criteria required by Oregon Statute:
- 1. Did you intentionally:
- Harass or annoy another by:
- Subjecting another person to offensive physical contact; or
- Publicly insulting another person by abusive words or gestures intended and likely to provoke a violent response;
- Scare someone else by lying to them about a tragic event regarding death or serious injury, when you knew the information to be false:
- Example: telling someone their mother died in a car accident when no such accident occurred.
- Frighten someone by phone, email, text, or social media by threatening them with bodily harm or threatening to commit a felony offense against that person or family that would reasonably cause alarm?
- Example: death threats, threats of robbery, etc.
Harassment is generally a Class B misdemeanor in Oregon; however it may be enhanced to a Class A misdemeanor in a variety of different scenarios, including if:
- There was any degree of contact with sexual or intimate body parts of the other person; or
- The alleged victim is a member of your family or household and the threat was done in front of a minor child.
If you have been accused of a crime, please call us.