Toronto Criminal Harassment Lawyer

Have you been charged with the Criminal offence of Criminal Harassment? If so, you’re probably searching for a Toronto Criminal Harassment Lawyer and also looking for information about the offence. In this blog, I will provide you answers to questions you probably have about the charge. For more information, please visit my site HERE.

Is Criminal Harassment a Crime in Ontario, Canada

Yes – it is a crime that falls under s. 264 of the Criminal Code of Canada and carries the risk of a criminal record and jail time, legally speaking.

What is Criminal Harassment in Ontario, Canada

As a Toronto Criminal Harassment Lawyer, we often receive a number of common questions which seem to be on peoples’ minds as it relates to this offence. The first common question we receive is effectively – what is criminal harassment?

Criminal Harassment is a criminal charge under the Criminal Code of Canada. All criminal charges are listed in the Criminal Code of Canada and apply Federally (Canada wide). This includes the offence of Criminal Harassment.

Criminal Harassment falls under s. 264 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

The section reads that: “(1) No person shall, without lawful authority and knowing that another person is harassed or recklessly as to whether the other person is harassed, engage in conduct referred to in subsection (2) that causes that other person reasonably, in all the circumstances, to fear for their safety or the safety of anyone known to them.”

The prohibited conduct referred to above involves:

(a) repeatedly following from place to place the other person or anyone known to them;

(b) repeatedly communicating with, either directly or indirectly, the other person or anyone known to them;

(c) besetting or watching the dwelling-house, or place where the other person, or anyone known to them, resides, works, carries on business or happens to be; or

(d) engaging in threatening conduct directed at the other person or any member of their family.

What Makes Up the Offence of Criminal Harassment Exactly?

One of the first things a Toronto Criminal Harassment Lawyer will do when starting a Criminal Harassment case will be to assess whether the Crown can prove “the make-up” or, as we say in criminal law, the “elements” of the offence.

For every criminal offence, the Crown must prove two separate things – one being the prohibited act (legally, referred to the Actus Reus), and the other being the guilty state of mind (which is known as Mens Rea).    The prohibited act or behaviour that the Crown must prove is:

• One of the types of actions referred to in (a) to (d) above (repeated contact; repeated following etc)
• That the complainant was “harassed”.  Courts have held that this constitutes “being tormented, troubled, worried continually and chronically, being plagued, bedeviled and badgered”
• The complainant feared for their safety as a result of the behaviour mentioned above, and that fear was reasonable in the circumstances

For the guilty state of mind to be proved, the Crown must establish that the accused who engaged in such conduct knew that the complainant was harassed or was reckless or wilfully blind as to whether the complainant was harassed.

Is mental harassment a criminal case?

It can be, yes, provided that the elements noted above have been satisified by the Crown Attorney. More specifically, if your behaviour, such as watching and besetting someone, leads the person to fear for their psychological safety (and not just their physical safety), Canadian Courts have found that this would constitute the crime of Criminal Harassment.

Harassment versus Criminal Harassment

A Toronto Criminal Harassment Lawyer may take on cases where their client clearly harassed another person, but that harassment may not have reached the point of criminal conduct, turning it into the criminal offence of Criminal Harassment.

An individual may be harassed in various ways, but that harassment may not amount to the criminal offence of criminal harassment. You should obtain an opinion from a Toronto Criminal Harassment Lawyer if you are unsure of whether the conduct you face falls within the Criminal Code of Canada, or outside it. For harassment to be criminal, the elements listed above must be present, particularly the legal requirement that you fear for your safety.

We often hear about stories of work place harassment, harassment in the streets by strangers, and the like. Not all of this activity will be captured under the Criminal Code of Canada as a crime.

Who are Victimized Most by Criminal Harassment

Another query I have received as a Toronto Criminal Harassment Lawyer relates to the question of who tends to be victimized most by this type of offence. Based on stats taken in the area, it appears that women are more commonly victimized than males. There also appears to be a link between criminal harassment and domestic violence or assault, according to statistics.

Defending and Beating Criminal Harassment Cases

If you’ve been charged with Criminal Harassment in Toronto, and want to know what your potential defences are, the only way to know that would be to retain a Toronto Criminal Harassment Lawyer to review your disclosure, particularly the statement made by the complainant.

Generally speaking, there may be a number of different defences one could raise to a Criminal Harassment Charge in Toronto, Canada:

• Whether the behaviour in question actually falls within one of the paragraphs indicated above (the police do not always correctly charge people!);
• Whether there is evidence that the complainant had a subjective fear for his/her safety;
• Whether the complainant’s fear, if they stated they had one, was objectively reasonable in the circumstances;
• Whether the accused had the “lawful authority” to engage in the behaviour in question;
• Whether the police have caught the right person (sometimes, criminal harassment occurs anonymously, and the police attempt to trace the offender through complicated and technical investigations, such as by tracing IP addresses)

Beating a criminal harassment charge requires a careful review of these factors, and others, to see what legal issues might be argued in court.

Can Criminal Harassment Charges be Dropped in Ontario

It is possible that your Toronto Criminal Harassment Lawyer can get your criminal harassment charges withdrawn. Each case needs to be assessed independently, but some of the following factors would be conducive to your lawyer working out a resolution whereby the Crown Attorney would agree to withdraw (or drop) your charges:

• You have no prior criminal history, and have never been arrested for, or charged with, criminal harassment;
• You are a youthful individual;
• You have pro-social ties, such as having a job, have the support of people in the community, etc.
• The harassment did not involve any serious threats;
• The harassment was not prolonged;
• The harassment did not have a significant impact on the victim, including the victim’s mental state;
• And more!

Potential Penalties for Criminal Harassment in Ontario

If you’ve been found guilty for criminal harassment, you are eligible to receive any possible sentence in the Criminal Code of Canada, from an Absolute Discharge (at the lowest end of the spectrum in terms of seriousness) to Jail time (at the highest end of the spectrum).

According to the penalty section in the Criminal Code of Canada, a person convicted of criminal harassment could face up to 10 years in prison. Because the maximum punishment is up to 10 years, individuals who are not Citizens in Canada may be deemed inadmissible here if you are convicted of the offence (more specifically, if you receive a sentence of anything above a Discharge, as a Discharge is not considered a conviction).

If the offence is committed in a domestic relationship, the punishment may be more severe. Any crime that occurs within the context of a domestic relationship is treated as an “aggravating factor”, or a factor that tends to increase punishment severity.

Contact an experienced Toronto Criminal Harassment Lawyer to learn where your case falls within the spectrum of potential penalties or outcomes, and, more importantly, what steps can be taken to increase the odds of you beating your case.

How do I Charge Someone for Criminal Harassment in Ontario

If you feel you are the victim of Criminal Harassment, you have a few different options. First, you can contact police and make a statement, with the view that the person responsible for the behaviour in question is charged with the offence by police.

If you’ve tried going to the police but the police have decided to not lay criminal charges against the person you believe has criminally harassed you, you can attempt to lay criminal charges yourself! It is possible for a civilian in Canada to lay a “private information”, which is a privately laid criminal charge through the Justice of the Peace office at the local criminal court (Ontario Court of Justice). More information can be found on this topic by clicking HERE.

Hiring a Toronto Criminal Harassment Lawyer

Hiring a Criminal Harassment Lawyer in Toronto is your next step if you’ve been charged with the offence. Andrew Captan is a Toronto-based Criminal Lawyer who handles these cases. You can reach him at (647) 878 – 6355, andrew@captanlaw.com or by visiting his website HERE.