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If you are facing criminal harassment charges, hire Toronto’s best criminal defence lawyer and protect your rights. We are providing you with experienced lawyers who give you expert advice and make your defence strong.
Criminal harassment is when a person harasses, annoys, or alarms another person.
The crime of criminal harassment can be defined as the following;
Criminal harassment often involves targeting someone like an ex-spouse or neighbour. It could happen to anyone, like a current or former partner, a co-worker, or even someone you don’t know.
Harassment can happen in different ways, such as;
Harassment can be in many different forms; as technology evolves, the laws of criminal harassment also change to keep up with the times. Some examples of harassment include the following;
Cyberbullying is to hurt or scare others online, like on social media. It involves the use of computers, phones, or other electronic devices.
It can also involve sending mean messages, threatening messages, spreading rumours, or sharing embarrassing videos or pictures without permission.
In many places, cyberbullying is considered a severe crime, and you can go to jail if found guilty of such an offence.
Sexual harassment is when someone makes unwanted sexual comments or requests. It often leads to seeking money for the damages by the victims. If the harassment becomes physical, then it leads to criminal charges. Sexual harassment is also considered when punishing someone for sexual assault.
Stalking is when someone bothers the other person repeatedly, even when they do not want it. This might mean following them, sending them things they do not wish to do, or consistently showing up where they live or work. Cyberstalking is when these behaviours happen online.
If someone harasses another person because of their race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, where they come from, or who they are, it can be a hate crime.
The term ‘criminal harassment’ is sometimes associated with creepy factors. When the media is involved, they portray such charges as always leading to violence or abuses like sexual abuse, but the reality is different.
Sometimes, the behaviour or actions that lead to this charge are not as severe as they are made out to be. It could be just a simple teenage drama, or a person complaining exaggerates it because he wants it to become a serious charge.
At Toronto’s Law Firm, we find out whether the charge is as severe as it is portrayed and recognize that not everyone accused of criminal harassment fits the stereotype of a ‘stalker.’
When someone claims that they are being harassed, they will first reach out to the Toronto Police Service to report it. The police will ask them to write down everything that happened and any witnesses. After that, the police will start looking into it.
The police will thoroughly investigate the case to find sufficient evidence to charge. This may include interviewing all witnesses, reviewing any video, seizing any evidence involved and photographing the scene.
After the police gather all the evidence, they will arrest you if they believe that you are the person who committed the offence. If you are not present at the scene, police will track you or issue a warrant of arrest against you.
After you are charged, the police will provide a package of all the evidence they collected, known as a ‘disclosure package,’ to the judge. You will have all the right to see the disclosure package to find out about the evidence against you.
Once you hire one of our lawyers, we will help you obtain the disclosure package, and we will review it with you to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the case, as well as any legal defences that may be available to you.
In every case, the defences are available depending on the specific facts of your case;
The following list includes defences that may be available in a Criminal Harassment case:
If you have successfully won the charter challenge, your case may get put on hold, or some evidence may be rejected or not used.
You can go to jail for up to 10 years for criminal harassment in Toronto, Canada.
You can file a harassment complaint by making a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
Many forms of emotional abuse are not considered crimes but can be a sign that the abuse might get worse.
