Text harassment is a form of harassment involving the use of text messaging services. Text message harassers often flood victims with messages that are abusive, threatening, or without purpose. If a person is repeatedly sending you text messages that contain threats of violence, harm, or property damage; texts that are sexual in nature and unwelcome; or other messages which make you feel upset, anxious or scared, this likely qualifies as text harassment. Because harassment is not a civil wrong, if you believe you are a victim of text harassment in the State of New York you have two options: call the police or file a family offense petition in Family Court. To learn more about Family Court and the process of bringing a family offense petition, click here.

New York Penal Law 240.25 – Harassment in the First Degree

Harassment in the first degree occurs when another person intentionally and repeatedly harasses another by following them in public or repeatedly committing acts which place another in reasonable fear for their physical safety.

Harassment in the first degree is a Class B misdemeanor and, if your harasser is convicted, they can be ordered to serve up to three months in jail and be fined up to $500.

New York Penal Law 240.26 – Harassment in the Second Degree

Harassment in the second degree occurs when a person, with intent to harass, annoy, or alarm another: 1) strikes, shoves, kicks or otherwise subjects another to physical conduct or threatens to do the same; 2) follows another in public; or 3) engages in a course of conduct which alarms or seriously annoys another for no legitimate purpose.

Harassment in the first or second degree can occur digitally, and when that happens, it’s often referred to as online harassment.  While there’s no civil cause of action for online harassment, it is a criminal offense.  If you are a victim of online harassment, call the police and/or an attorney, who may be able to help you find relief in family court.

Strengthening Your Case with Evidence

Whether you’re pursuing your text harassment matter in criminal court or family court, there’s no such thing as too much evidence. While taking screenshots of the text message harassment is a good star, it is far more useful to save your conversation as a PDF. Make sure your phone is not set to auto-delete old text messages. Take actions to download your conversations and save them someplace secure. There are many apps available online that can help you download your text messages as PDFs. If you are having difficulty downloading your messages, recording your phone screen while scrolling through the messages is preferable to screenshots.

This practice is not just prudent, it is also your duty as a litigant. The duty to preserve evidence relevant to a dispute or potential dispute requires a party to preserve evidence when they know, or should know, that evidence is likely to be relevant to pending or future litigation. If another party deliberately, negligently, or accidentally destroys evidence relevant to a case, they can be accused of spoliation.