Stalking Charges and Protection From Abuse Orders in Northampton County

Stalking is a serious charge in Pennsylvania, carrying numerous potential consequences ranging from criminal convictions with fines and jail time to civil actions like Protection From Abuse (PFA) orders. Offenders also tend to suffer socially, as friends, family, employers, and other community members may become uneasy maintaining personal or professional relationships.

If you're accused of stalking in Northampton County, overcoming these charges and actions is crucial to saving your reputation and preserving your future. However, stalking cases are delicate and tricky to handle, so you must make sure to hire the most competent lawyers possible. That's why you should contact the LLF Law Firm Criminal Defense Team right away. Call them today at 888-535-3686 or fill out their confidential consultation form.

Should a Northampton County judge approve a PFA order, it will remain valid for up to three years. During that time, the order will require you to comply with the following rules and restrictions:

• Exclusion from your place of residence, even if you contribute to the rent or mortgage and/or your name is on the deed or lease.
• No contact with the accuser who filed the PFA, whether directly or through friends, family members, or other third parties.
• Relinquish custody of any shared children, allowing the plaintiff to have temporary custody while you pay child or spousal support and fulfill other financial obligations as needed.
• Submit to more surveillance or scrutiny than you may have experienced previously from law enforcement and employers.

Dealing with PFA orders and other repercussions of stalking charges can overwhelm you more easily than you might think, especially once it bleeds into both your career and personal life. Don't leave a dismissal or reduction in charges to chance; hire the LLF Law Firm to protect you and fight the charges on your behalf.

Stalking Laws in Pennsylvania

What counts as stalking in Pennsylvania? If you're not sure, it's crucial to review the state's definition so that you can better avoid or combat stalking charges. Pennsylvania law says that stalking is a pattern of behavior that threatens or credibly implies the following:

1. The intent and ability to harm the body, property, or relationships of another person and/or their loved ones.
2. The intent and ability to cause enough mental or emotional distress to disrupt the health or daily life of another person.

When deciding whether to indict or convict the defendant of stalking charges, Northampton County courts take numerous factors into account. Here are some examples:

• Repeated Acts: An isolated incident of unwanted contact or proximity here and there could simply be construed as coincidence. If it happens twice or more in a short period of time without an understandable reason (such as working or socializing in similar areas), it suggests a pattern that could fit the definition of stalking.
• Course of Conduct: Not only is a demonstrable pattern of contact necessary to constitute stalking but so is a pattern of behavior. If each incident of contact or proximity includes threats, harassment, intimidation, assault, or other harmful actions, it shows a course of contact tantamount to stalking.
• Intent: The repeated acts and course of conduct are infused with a direct or implied intent to cause physical or emotional harm to the accuser.
• Emotional Distress: The contact, proximity, and behavior result in clear (and possibly documented) emotional or mental distress to the accused, whether temporary or permanent.

If this is your first time being charged with stalking, chances are that the Northampton County courts will categorize it as a misdemeanor. However, second and subsequent offenses are often elevated to felonies. You could also end up with a felony charge if it includes any of the following counts:

• Reckless endangerment
• Simple assault
• Aggravated assault
• Rape
• Involuntary deviant sexual intercourse
• Kidnapping
• Breach of a protective order

Grading Criminal Stalking Charges

Criminal history and the egregiousness of the stalking can influence the way that Northampton County courts decide to grade stalking charges. First-time offenses are usually written up as first-degree misdemeanors that may carry sentences like incarceration for up to five years and a maximum of $10,000 in fines.

Prior convictions and greater severity, on the other hand, increase the odds that the charge will be graded as a third-degree felony. This is especially true if the offense was committed against a family, a member of your household, and/or the same victim as the first time. The courts may assign punishments like seven years of jail time and a maximum of $15,000 in fines.

Stalking is often committed in tandem with other similar crimes, which could raise the charges to even higher grades and add more punishments to the final sentence. Also, Pennsylvania law says that “seriously disparaging” statements and opinions regarding a victim's child can factor into determining the charge's severity, particularly if the victim or their child experiences or could experience “substantial emotional distress…which produces some physical manifestation.”

Terroristic threats are another crime often associated with stalking. Pennsylvania law states that terroristic threats are defined thus:

• They lead to the evacuation of a building, public facility, or place of assembly.
• They are demonstrably intended to terrorize.

You may argue that what the plaintiff's legal team alleges are “terroristic threats” or “seriously disparaging statements” are actually just examples of miscommunication or misunderstandings. Nevertheless, Northampton will likely elevate a first-degree misdemeanor stalking charge to a third-degree felony if you can't prove that.

How Stalking in Northampton County Leads to Protection from Abuse Orders

Criminal charges and convictions aren't the only potential consequences of stalking accusations. There are also civil ones, including the Protection From Abuse (PFA) orders. Created to safeguard and support victims of domestic violence, PFA orders in Pennsylvania authorize the Northampton County courts to do anything in their power to safeguard the following people:

• Spouses or persons living as spouses, both those that presently live with the accused and those who formerly did.
• Prior and current sexual partners.
• Family members by blood or marriage, including parents, children, and siblings.

Victims and accusers seeking PFA orders are eligible if they've suffered physical abuse, sexual abuse, isolation, kidnapping, or being involuntarily held somewhere. They can also get PFA orders if they live in genuine, reasonable fear of it due to threatening behavior, like intimidation, menacing, harassment, and other actions that often accompany stalking.

The Northampton County Courthouse offers the Protection From Abuse Office to allow victims and accusers to file for PFA orders. It's located at 669 Washington St, Easton, PA 18042 in Easton. PFA order petitions must include as many details as possible, such as:

• When and where the stalking incidents occurred.
• A description of the course of conduct, threats, abuse, and other relevant actions.
• A description of any physical or psychological harm inflicted on the petitioner by the stalker.
• A list of every person involved, including witnesses and other third parties.

Depending on the circumstances surrounding the stalking case, victims and accusers can add stipulations and different types of relief to their PFA order request. That is, they could be granted the following:

• No-contact orders between the accused and the petitioner or any children they share.
• Temporary full custody of any shared children to the petitioner.
• No contact with the petitioner's family members.
• Eviction of the accused from their residence, awarding sole possession to the petitioner.
• Confiscation of any firearms and ammunition that the accused may own.
• Child or spousal support, as well as compensation for legal fees and any out-of-pocket expenses used to resolve injuries or complications caused by abuse.

Temporary Orders

After filing for a full PFA order, the Northampton County courts typically give temporary orders to the accusers. They're meant to last only until the court processes the stalking charges and holds a formal hearing, which usually takes place ten business days. PFA orders are also provided on an ex-parte basis or without the presence of the accused. This means that your accuser can obtain a PFA order by giving only their own testimony to the judge, as well as the information in the application for the order. You can't defend yourself until the hearing.

In emergency situations, magisterial judges can grant emergency PFA orders. These are the criteria:

• There is a “true emergency,” meaning that the petitioner and/or their loved ones are at risk of immediate harm.
• The Court of Common Pleas is unavailable and can't hear or evaluate the petition before the order is needed.

Although emergency orders expire at the end of the next business day, the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas can replace them with a temporary PFA order. No further action will be taken until the hearing is scheduled within ten business days.

Protection From Abuse Hearings in Northampton County

At the hearing, both the accuser and accused can present their evidence, context, arguments, and perspectives to a judge from the Northampton Court of Common Pleas. After that, the judge will decide on the final form and stipulations of the PFA order, which will then become permanent and legally binding for up to three years. Your employer, local law enforcement, licensing agencies, and your children's schools will all receive copies of the final order.

Without competent legal assistance, it's easy to become overwhelmed at a hearing like this. You could be bombarded with evidence, testimonies, character witnesses, and procedural errors against your favor. It could all lead to the finalization of a full PFA order, regardless of the truth or circumstances. Plus, any evidence and statements used in a civil PFA order hearing can also be used in proceedings for the criminal charges and child custody hearings, which are both addressed separately.

The potentially long-lasting effects of a PFA order are the reason why it's vital to have a lawyer present with you at the hearing. The LLF Law Firm Criminal Defense Team can ensure that the order's scope is less restrictive, has a shorter duration, or gets dismissed entirely.

Provisions and Impact of a PFA

The legal consequences of a PFA order are often devastating enough, but they can have repercussions beyond that as well. For example, a stalking conviction will go on your criminal record, potentially impacting various aspects of your life, including:

• Relationships and Reputation: Criminal records are public, and even when someone isn't actively seeking to know your background, word travels. Many of your most important relationships could become severely damaged, and you might lose some of them entirely. You could also be barred from participating in volunteer and community organizations.
• Increased Scrutiny: Should you break any more laws—even minor ones—law enforcement may deal with you more harshly knowing that you have a PFA order and stalking conviction on your record. You may need to shoulder more severe penalties than usual, such as higher fees and fines.
• Employment Opportunities: Prospective employers commonly perform criminal history background checks before hiring or promoting employees. Professional licensing agencies also use them to decide whether an applicant is allowed to obtain, maintain, renew, or reinstate their professional licenses. If these employers and agencies see that there's a PFA order against you and convictions for stalking and related crimes, your career could suffer enormously.
• Housing: Landlords often run criminal background checks on prospective tenants, too. Eviction from a shared residence not only makes you homeless, but since it goes on your record, it could make a landlord wary of approving you for a lease. You could have difficulty finding adequate housing in a timely manner.
• Loss of Rights: PFA orders may compromise some of your civil rights as well. The right to bear arms is one of them. Law enforcement may compel you to surrender your weapons and ammunition.

What Happens If Defendants Violate a PFA?

PFA orders are civil cases, but violations are treated as criminal offenses, even if they're due to accidents, misunderstandings, or simply interpreting the stipulations as unjust or invalid. If law enforcement officers have a good reason to suspect that you've violated a PFA order, they may arrest you without a warrant. After that, a judge might lengthen your record with a charge of indirect criminal contempt of court, a second-degree misdemeanor in Pennsylvania. That alone carries the following penalties:

• Up to $1,000 in fines for each violation.
• A maximum of six months in jail for each count of contempt.
• A change in child custody arrangements or visitation schedules.

Depending on the circumstances, it's possible that you will be spared from jail time in favor of probation and completing an anger management program, attending domestic violence counseling, or other rehabilitative resources.

Should you violate the PFA order with other illegal actions—like harassment, threats, intimidation, assault, property damage, or more stalking—you could face additional criminal charges in a new case. If your initial stalking charge was graded as a first-degree misdemeanor, it would be categorized as a third-degree felony this time. The court will assign more punishments to you for those.

Can You Modify a PFA?

Perhaps you and/or your accuser would like to modify the duration or stipulations of a PFA order. All modifications are subject to approval from a Northampton County court judge. This is true even if you and the petitioner come to a mutual agreement outside the court; you could still be charged with violating the order if you act against it without official modification.

Petitioners can also ask the court to extend the PFA order before it expires, especially if they allege that additional abuse, threats, harassment, stalking, and other incidents have occurred since it was first finalized. You can appeal it within 30 days of issuance, and the Pennsylvania Superior Court will review your request.

Your Resource for Bucks County Stalking Charges and Protection From Abuse Orders

Most defendants in PFA order cases are blindsided by the petitioners' accusations and the orders themselves. These orders can upend the lives of the accused before they even have a chance to process what has happened or defend themselves in court. You need legal representation that can skillfully navigate Northampton County court proceedings and advocate on your behalf.

That's what the LLF Law Firm Criminal Defense Team can do for you. Years of experience defending Northampton County residents against PFA orders and related charges made them more than capable of supporting you in these ways and more:

• Excellent Strategizing: The LLF Law Firm is renowned throughout the country for its ability to effectively strategize compelling defenses tailored to each of their clients.
• Advice on Compliance: With their extensive knowledge of Pennsylvanian and Northampton County law, the LLF Law Firm can help you understand the PFA order and how to avoid violating it.
• Disputing or Modifying PFAs: If you want to combat or change a PFA order against you, the LLF Law Firm can assist with that, too. They'll know how to present you in the best possible light to the court and fight for your needs.

If you've been accused of stalking or received notice of a PFA order against you, don't want to act. Contact the LLF Law Firm Criminal Defense Team immediately so that you can protect yourself and keep your life on track. Learn more today by calling the LLF Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or filling out a confidential consultation form.