Adult Being Harassed by a Minor, What Can I Do

[mike1806]

My question involves juvenile law in the State of: Texas

I am being harassed by a 17 y/old, I am a 41 y/old female. This started a few months ago when she had a falling out with my baby sitter over some stupid stuff. I literally had nothing to do with it, I believe she tried to get me to fire my baby sitter. When I didn't "respond" as she anticipated she started sending me (what I considered threatening) texts She initially used her own cell number to text me numerous times, including nude photos (not of her), texts stating that "the police were going to come by my house because of (my baby sitter)", and so on. Once the texts stated that she "knows where my children go to school" and similar things, I contacted the local police. Unfortunately because she never made any specific threats, they claim they cannot do anything. Not too sure about that part.

She still lives at home but her parents don't do anything to control her. Once she realized that I was serious she started using other phone numbers, but because of the content it was easy to connect them to her.

Well, for a few weeks things calmed down (presumably after the police talked to her), but recently I started getting texts again. All of them are from numbers I don't recognize, so I usually open them and then get the nasty surprise The first or second one (calling me an ugly bitch or something like that) I responded to (I never responded to her other texts, not wanting to perpetuate anything), stating "(her name), you really are not very smart, do I need to go to the police again?" Silence! Awesome, I thought.

Well, not the end of the story. Today I got a weird phone call on my land line and an MMS to my cell with a picture of a certain male body part attached. Both were from the same number in CA, where I don't know anyone. The pattern fits, though. I swear I just don't know anyone else who acts like this or does things like this.

I have had enough. I need to know what actions I can take to stop this girl from sending me this nastiness. Other than changing my numbers, which would require me contacting dozens of individuals to let them know of the changes. She is the one who started this, I do not see why I have to go through this. I know there will be responses telling me that that will be my easiest way out of the situation. But as the victim, I do not agree with taking the easy way out for her. It will only affirm in her mind that she is untouchable.

I have seen a lot of posts about individuals being harassed or having a restraining order against them, and the initiator continues to contact them. The most common advice is "change your number" or "block the number". That only treats the symptom, not the issue. As a responsible adult, I believe that the younger generation has to learn to follow the rule of law, be responsible and respectful. If all we ever do is avoid the harassment, or other issues, we are not teaching others about mature behavior.

I know this girl is living in the blessed knowledge that as a minor, her record will be sealed when she turns 18, but I want to know if I can file a restraining order or no-contact order against her.

I would also like to know if there is anything else I could do, besides the restraining order. I would like to actually see her charged and having to go to court to respond for her actions. I am not seeking jail time or monetary compensation, I am actually trying to help her become a supporting member of society. Not sure if it works, seeing as I just now received a text from her: "You get my picture bitch? More to come. I might even stop by and say hi to (my kids names)"

[jk]

if the nude pics were of a minor, she is guilty of dealing in child porn. That is something the police should not have ignored, period.


in fact, even the transmission of the porn pictures, even if the subject is an adult it often a crime.

On top of that there are generally harassment statutes that would apply in most states.

Sorry I don't have anything specific offhand but what I would do is simply document every contact and make regular reports to the police. If the police do not respond, you might contact the DA's office directly. Sometimes (too often IMO) the police blow off crimes simply because nobody was physically injured where the DA looks at the situation quite differently.

[mike1806]

Thanks for this very quick reply. The initial picture was of an adult, so no child porn charges here. The current picture is non-identifiable (due to showing only that ONE part), and I am NOT doing a line-up ;-).

The local police was not very helpful. When I first approached them the detective I spoke to only wanted to talk to me about my babysitter and recommended I fire her. He called me for a follow up a week later and didn't even remember if he had spoken to the girl who was texting me. The girl's family has some business connections here. One of the difficulties I see here is that she continues to use different phone numbers and I don't know how to link them to her (other than her obvious mistakes in constantly referring to my kids and my babysitter).

I will go back to the police tomorrow and request that they re-open the case and file harassment charges. I could have sworn I did that when the whole thing started, but maybe the paperwork I filled out was not enough.

[jk]

mike1806;578221]Thanks for this very quick reply. The initial picture was of an adult, so no child porn charges here. The current picture is non-identifiable (due to showing only that ONE part), and I am NOT doing a line-up ;-).

aww, come on. It was a hilarious idea on Porky's.

"can we at least refer to it as a tallywhacker?"

[cdwjava]

There may not be multiple phone numbers here. Caller ID can be spoofed rather easily. What cannot be spoofed are phone records. If this gets to the point that the police look into a criminal allegation, they can seek a subpoena for your phone records to identify the caller's number(s).

This appears to be a crime per 42.07 of the Texas Penal Code.

http://law.onecle.com/texas/penal/42.07.00.html

You might consider speaking to someone higher up at the police department if they are not taking the matter seriously. If you want to expedite things, consider typing up the whole thing - details and all - so that you have something to present to the police with the whole story, the numbers that have come up, and what has been said or written.

[davidmcbeth3]

Your have the option of carrying a gun if you so choose. I don't know if I would rely on the police in this instance. When seconds count, police are only minutes away.

[mike1806]

Thank you to everyone who responded with helpful information. I have since learned that the numbers used came from several free texting services (services such as "Pinger, textPlus, click-a-text and others). All it took was for me to call the numbers (from a different phone of course), and I was politely informed that I had reached a number associated with these services, and to send a text from a cell phone.

I have already contacted the companies' abuse departments, and received a reply from one of them. They will release all records against a subpoena. Now I am just waiting for more junk to come my way to dig that hole deeper.

In response to the advise about the gun: I have the advantage of "knowing" (and I sure hope that I am not dead wrong here) that I am dealing with a very spoiled young lady with nothing better to do, so I am not too worried about this escalating into physical threats. She doesn't even have a car or drivers license . I am not scared of weapons (I am in the military after all), but with kids in the house (including one weapon-fanatic teenager), I believe that my very big and heavy stick at the front door will do just fine.

The offense might not be all that much, but if I don't step up, this brat will never learn how to become a productive member of society. And yes, I want her to understand that the universe does not revolve around her, no matter what her parents told her.

Start. Your. Own. Thread.

Don't worry about Jacki Ismart. You can tell by his name that he is not very smart...