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(a) (1) No person shall knowingly cause another to believe that the offender will cause physical harm to the person or property of the other person, the other person’s unborn, or a member of the other person’s immediate family. In addition to any other basis for the other person’s belief that the offender will cause physical harm to the person or property of the other person, the other person’s unborn, or a member of the other person’s immediate family, the other person’s belief may be based on words or conduct of the offender that are directed at or identify a corporation, association, or other organization that employs the other person or to which the other person belongs.
(2) No person shall knowingly place or attempt to place another in reasonable fear of physical harm or death by displaying a deadly weapon, regardless of whether the deadly weapon displayed is operable or inoperable, if either of the following applies:
A. The other person is an emergency service responder, the person knows or reasonably should know that the other person is an emergency service responder, and it is the person’s specific purpose to engage in the specified conduct against an emergency service responder.
B. The other person is a family or household member or co-worker of an emergency service responder, the person knows or reasonably should know that the other person is a family or household member or co-worker of an emergency service responder, and it is the person’s specific purpose to engage in the specified conduct against a family or household member or co-worker of an emergency service responder.
(b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of menacing. Except as otherwise provided in this division, menacing is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If the victim of the offense is an officer or employee of a public children services agency or a private child placing agency and the offense relates to the officer’s or employee’s performance or anticipated performance of official responsibilities or duties or if the victim of the offense is an emergency service responder in the performance of the responder’s official duties, menacing is one of the following:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (b)(2) of this section, a misdemeanor of the first degree;
(2) If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense of violence, the victim of that prior offense was an officer or employee of a public children services agency or private child placing agency or an emergency service responder, and that prior offense related to the officer’s or employee’s performance or anticipated performance of official responsibilities or duties or to the responder’s performance of the responder’s official duties, a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate state law.
(c) A prosecution for a violation of this section does not preclude a prosecution of a violation of any other section of the Ohio Revised Code. One or more acts, a series of acts, or a course of behavior that can be prosecuted under this section or any other section of the Ohio Revised Code may be prosecuted under this section, the other section of the Ohio Revised Code, or both sections. However, if an offender is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of this section and also is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of R.C. § 2903.13, or any substantially similar municipal ordinance, based on the same conduct involving the same victim that was the basis of the violation of this section, the offenses are allied offenses of similar import under R.C. § 2941.25.
(d) As used in this section:
(1) “Co-worker.” Has the same meanings as in R.C. § 2903.13.
(2) “Emergency service responder.” Has the same meanings as in R.C. § 2903.13.
(3) “Family or household member.” Has the same meanings as in R.C. § 2903.13.
(4) “Organization.” Includes an entity that is a governmental employer.
(R.C. § 2903.22)
(a) No person, who is the parent, guardian, custodian, person having custody or control, or person in loco parentis of a child under 18 years of age or a child with a mental or physical disability under 21 years of age, shall create a substantial risk to the health or safety of the child by violating a duty of care, protection, or support. It is not a violation of a duty of care, protection, or support under this division when the parent, guardian, custodian, or person having custody or control of a child treats the physical or mental illness or disability of the child by spiritual means through prayer alone, in accordance with the tenets of a recognized religious body.
(b) No person shall do any of the following to a child under 18 years of age or a child with a mental or physical disability under 21 years of age:
(1) Abuse the child.
(2) Torture or cruelly abuse the child.
(3) Administer corporal punishment or other physical disciplinary measure, or physically restrain the child in a cruel manner or for a prolonged period, which punishment, discipline or restraint is excessive under the circumstances and creates a substantial risk of serious physical harm to the child.
(4) Repeatedly administer unwarranted disciplinary measures to a child when there is a substantial risk that such conduct, if continued, will seriously impair or retard the child’s mental health or development.
(5) Entice, coerce, permit, encourage, compel, hire, employ, use, or allow the child to act, model, or in any other way participate in, or be photographed for, the production, presentation, dissemination, or advertisement of any material or performance that the offender knows or reasonably should know is obscene, is sexually oriented matter, or is nudity-oriented matter.
(6) Allow the child to be on the same parcel of real property and within 100 feet of, or, in the case of more than one housing unit on the same parcel of real property, in the same housing unit and within 100 feet of, any act in violation of Ohio R.C. 2925.04 or 2925.041 when the person knows that the act is occurring, whether or not any person is prosecuted for or convicted of the violation of Ohio R.C. 2925.04 or 2925.041 that is the basis of the violation of this division.
(c) (1) No person shall operate a vehicle, as defined by Ohio R.C. 4511.01, within the Municipality and in violation of Ohio R.C. 4511.19(A), or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, when one or more children under 18 years of age are in the vehicle. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person may be convicted at the same trial or proceeding of a violation of this division and a violation of Ohio R.C. 4511.19(A), or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, that constitutes the basis of the charge of the violation of this division. For purposes of Ohio R.C. 4511.191 to 4511.197 and all related provisions of law, a person arrested for a violation of this division shall be considered to be under arrest for operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a controlled substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance in the whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine.
(2) As used in division (c)(1) of this section:
A. “Controlled substance” has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 3719.01.
B. “Vehicle” has the same meanings as in Ohio R.C. 4511.01.
(d) (1) Division (b)(5) of this section does not apply to any material or performance that is produced, presented, or disseminated for a bona fide medical, scientific, educational, religious, governmental, judicial, or other proper purpose, by or to a physician, psychologist, sociologist, scientist, teacher, person pursing bona fide studies for research, librarian, member of the clergy, prosecutor, judge, or other person having a proper interest in the material or performance.
(2) Mistake of age is not a defense to a charge under division (b)(5) of this section.
(3) In a prosecution under division (b)(5) of this section, the trier of fact may infer that an actor, model, or participant in the material or performance involved is a juvenile if the material or performance, through its title, text, visual representation, or otherwise, represents or depicts the actor, model, or participant as a juvenile.
(4) As used in this division and division (b)(5) of this section:
A. “Material,” “performance,” “obscene,” and “sexual activity” have the same meanings as in Ohio R.C. 2907.01.
B. “Nudity-oriented matter” means any material or performance that shows a minor in a state of nudity and that, taken as a whole by the average person applying contemporary community standards, appeals to the prurient interest.
C. “Sexually oriented matter” means any material or performance that shows a minor participating or engaging in sexual activity, masturbation, or bestiality.
(e) Whoever violates this section is guilty of endangering children.
(1) If the offender violates division (a) or (b)(1) of this section, endangering children is one of the following:
A. Except as otherwise provided in division (e)(1)B., C., or D., a misdemeanor of the first degree.
B. If the offender previously has been convicted of an offense under this section or a substantially equivalent state law or municipal ordinance, or of any offense involving neglect, abandonment, or contributing to the delinquency of or physical abuse of a child, except as otherwise provided in division (e)(1)C. or D. of this section, endangering children is a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate State law.
C. If the violation is a violation of division (a) of this section and results in serious physical harm to the child involved, endangering children is a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate State law.
D. If the violation is a violation of division (b)(1) of this section and results in serious physical harm to the child involved, endangering children is a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate State law.
(2) If the offender violates division (b)(2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) of this section, endangering children is a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate State law.
(3) If the offender violates division (c) of this section, the offender shall be punished as follows:
A. Except as provided in (e)(3)B. or C., endangering children in violation of division (c) of this section is a misdemeanor of the first degree.
B. If the violation results in serious physical harm to the child or if the offender previously has been convicted of a violation of this section or a substantially equivalent state law or municipal ordinance, or of any offense involving neglect, abandonment, or contributing to the delinquency of or physical abuse of a child, except as otherwise provided in division (e)(3)C. of this section, endangering children in violation of division (c) of this section is a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate State law.
C. If the violation results in serious physical harm to the child and if the offender previously has been convicted of a violation of this section, Ohio R.C. 2903.06, 2903.08, 2919.22(C) or former Ohio R.C. 2903.07 as it existed prior to March 23, 2000, or Ohio R.C. 2903.04, in a case in which the offender was subject to the sanctions described in division (D) of that section, endangering children in violation of division (c) of this section is a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate State law.
D. In addition to any term of imprisonment, fine, or other sentence, penalty or sanction it imposes upon the offender pursuant to divisions (e)(3)A., B. or C. of this section or pursuant to any other provision of law and in addition to any suspension of the offender’s driver’s license or commercial driver’s license or permit or nonresident operating privilege under Ohio R.C. Chapter 4506, 4509, 4510, or 4511, or any other provision of law, the court also may impose upon the offender a class seven suspension of the offender’s driver’s or commercial driver’s license or permit or nonresident operating privilege from the range specified in Ohio R.C. 4510.02(A)(7).
E. In addition to any term of imprisonment, fine, or other sentence, penalty or sanction imposed upon the offender pursuant to division (e)(3)A., B., C. or D. of this section or pursuant to any other provision of law for the violation of division (c) of this section, if as a part of the same trial or proceeding the offender also is convicted of or pleads guilty to a separate charge charging the violation of Ohio R.C. 4511.19(A), or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, that was the basis of the charge of the violation of division (c) of this section, the offender also shall be sentenced in accordance with Ohio R.C. 4511.19, or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, for that violation of Ohio R.C. 4511.19(A), or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance.
(f) (1) If a person violates division (c) of this section and if, at the time of the violation, there were two or more children under 18 years of age in the motor vehicle involved in the violation, the offender may be convicted of a violation of division (c) of this section for each of the children, but the court may sentence the offender for only one of the violations.
(2) A. If a person is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of division (c) of this section but the person is not also convicted of and does not also plead guilty to a separate charge of violating Ohio R.C. 4511.19(A), or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, that was the basis of the charge of the violation of division (c) of this section, both the following apply:
1. For purposes of the provisions of Ohio R.C. 4511.19, or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, that set forth the penalties and sanctions for a violation of Ohio R.C. 4511.19(A), or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, the conviction of or plea of guilty to the violation of division (c) of this section shall not constitute a violation of Ohio R.C. 4511.19(A), or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance.
2. For purposes of the provisions of law that refers to a conviction of or plea of guilty to a violation of Ohio R.C. 4511.19(A), or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, and that is not described in division (f)(2)A.1. of this section, the conviction of or plea of guilty to the violation of division (c) of this section shall constitute a conviction or plea of guilty to a violation of Ohio R.C. 4511.19(A), or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance.
B. If a person is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of division (c) of this section and the person also is convicted of or pleads guilty to a separate charge of violating Ohio R.C. 4511.19(A), or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, that was the basis of the charge of the violation of division (c) of this section, the conviction of or plea of guilty to the violation of division (c) of this section shall not constitute, for the purposes of any provision of law that refers to a conviction of or a plea of guilty to a violation of Ohio R.C. 4511.19(A) or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, a conviction of or a plea of guilty to a violation of Ohio R.C. 4511.19(A) or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance.
(ORC 2919.22(A) - (E), (H))
Statutory reference:
Community service, requirements, see Ohio R.C. 2919.22(F)
License suspension, requirements, see Ohio R.C. 2919.22(G)
Permitting child abuse, felony offense, see Ohio R.C. 2903.15
(
EDITOR'S NOTE: Section 537.073 was repealed as part of the 1998 updating and revision of these Codified Ordinances because substantially equivalent State law (Ohio R.C. 2905.04) was repealed by the Ohio General Assembly by S.B. 2, effective July 1, 1996.)
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This section was formerly based on R.C. § 2905.05, Criminal Child Enticement. The Ohio Supreme Court held that R.C. § 2905.05(A) was unconstitutionally overbroad in violation of the First Amendment. See State v. Romage, 138 Ohio St. 3d. 390 (2014).
(a) No person, without privilege to do so, shall knowingly restrain another of his or her liberty.
(b) No person, without privilege to do so and with a sexual motivation, shall knowingly restrain another of the other person’s liberty.
(c) Whoever violates this section is guilty of unlawful restraint, a misdemeanor of the third degree.
(d) As used in this section, “sexual motivation” has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 2971.01.
(ORC 2905.03)
(a) No person, with purpose to coerce another into taking or refraining from action concerning which the other person has a legal freedom of choice, shall do any of the following:
(1) Threaten to commit any offense.
(2) Utter or threaten any slander against any person.
(3) Expose or threaten to expose any matter tending to subject any person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule, or to damage any person’s personal or business repute, or to impair any person’s credit.
(4) Institute or threaten criminal proceedings against any person.
(5) Take or withhold, or threaten to take or withhold official action, or cause or threaten to cause official action to be taken or withheld.
(b) Divisions (a)(4) and (5) of this section shall not be construed to prohibit a prosecutor or court from doing any of the following in good faith and in the interests of justice:
(1) Offering or agreeing to grant, or granting immunity from prosecution pursuant to Ohio R.C. 2945.44.
(2) In return for a plea of guilty to one or more offenses charged or to one or more other or lesser offenses, or in return for the testimony of the accused in a case to which the accused is not a party, offering or agreeing to dismiss, or dismissing one or more charges pending against an accused, or offering or agreeing to impose, or imposing a certain sentence or modification of sentence.
(3) Imposing a community control sanction on certain conditions, including without limitation requiring the offender to make restitution or redress to the victim of the offense.
(c) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under division (a)(3), (4), or (5) of this section that the actor’s conduct was a reasonable response to the circumstances which occasioned it, and that the actor’s purpose was limited to any of the following:
(1) Compelling another to refrain from misconduct or to desist from further misconduct.
(2) Preventing or redressing a wrong or injustice.
(3) Preventing another from taking action for which the actor reasonably believed the other person to be disqualified.
(4) Compelling another to take action which the actor reasonably believed the other person to be under a duty to take.
(d) Whoever violates this section is guilty of coercion, a misdemeanor of the second degree.
(e) As used in this section:
(1) “Community control sanction” has the same meaning as in R.C. § 2929.01.
(2) “Threat” includes a direct threat and a threat by innuendo.
(ORC 2905.12)
(a) No person shall knowingly make or cause to be made a telecommunication, or knowingly permit a telecommunication to be made from a telecommunications device under the person's control, to another, if the caller does any of the following:
(1) Makes the telecommunication with purpose to harass, intimidate, or abuse any person at the premises to which the telecommunication is made, whether or not actual communication takes place between the caller and a recipient;
(2) Describes, suggests, requests, or proposes that the caller, the recipient of the telecommunication, or any other person engage in sexual activity, and the recipient or another person at the premises to which the telecommunication is made has requested, in a previous telecommunication or in the immediate telecommunication, that the caller not make a telecommunication to the recipient or to the premises to which the telecommunication is made;
(3) During the telecommunication, violates Ohio R.C. 2903.21 or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance;
(4) Knowingly states to the recipient of the telecommunication that the caller intends to cause damage to or destroy public or private property, and the recipient, any member of the recipient’s family, or any other person who resides at the premises to which the telecommunication is made owns, leases, resides, or works in, will at the time of the destruction or damaging be near or in, has the responsibility of protecting, or insures the property that will be destroyed or damaged;
(5) Knowingly makes the telecommunication to the recipient of the telecommunication, to another person at the premises to which the telecommunication is made, or to those premises, and the recipient or another person at those premises previously has told the caller not to make a telecommunication to those premises or to any persons at those premises;
(6) Knowingly makes any comment, request, suggestion, or proposal to the recipient of the telecommunication that is threatening, intimidating, menacing, coercive, or obscene with the intent to abuse, threaten, or harass the recipient;
(7) Without a lawful business purpose, knowingly interrupts the telecommunication service of any person;
(8) Without a lawful business purpose, knowingly transmits to any person, regardless of whether the telecommunication is heard in its entirety, any file, document, or other communication that prevents that person from using the person’s telephone service or electronic communication device;
(9) Knowingly makes any false statement concerning the death, injury, illness, disfigurement, reputation, indecent conduct, or criminal conduct of the recipient of the telecommunication or family or household member of the recipient with purpose to abuse, threaten, intimidate, or harass the recipient;
(10) Knowingly incites another person through a telecommunication or other means to harass or participate in the harassment of a person;
(11) Knowingly alarms the recipient by making a telecommunication without a lawful purpose at an hour or hours known to be inconvenient to the recipient and in an offensive or repetitive manner.
(b) (1) No person shall make or cause to be made a telecommunication or permit a telecommunication to be made from a telecommunications device under the person’s control, with purpose to abuse, threaten, or harass another person.
(2) No person shall knowingly post a text or audio statement or an image on an internet web site or web page for the purpose of abusing, threatening, or harassing another person.
(c) (1) Whoever violates this section is guilty of telecommunications harassment.
(2) A violation of division (a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(5), (a)(6), (a)(7), (a)(8), (a)(9), (a)(10), or (a)(11) or (b) of this section is a misdemeanor of the first degree on a first offense and a felony on each subsequent offense, which shall be prosecuted under appropriate State law.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in this division (c)(3), a violation of division (a)(4) of this section is a misdemeanor of the first degree on a first offense and a felony on each subsequent offense, to be prosecuted under appropriate State law. If a violation of division (a)(4) of this section results in economic harm of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more, telecommunications harassment is a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate State law.
(d) No cause of action may be asserted in any court of this Municipality against any provider of a telecommunications service, interactive computer service as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 230, or information service, or against any officer, employee, or agent of a telecommunications service, interactive computer service as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 230, or information service, for any injury, death, or loss to person or property that allegedly arises out of the provider’s, officer’s, employee’s, or agent’s provision of information, facilities, or assistance in accordance with the terms of a court order that is issued in relation to the investigation or prosecution of an alleged violation of this section. A provider of a telecommunications service, interactive computer service as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 230, or information service, or an officer, employee, or agent of a telecommunications service, interactive computer service as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 230, or information service, is immune from any civil or criminal liability for injury, death, or loss to person or property that allegedly arises out of the provider’s, officer’s, employees, or agent’s provision of information, facilities, or assistance in accordance with the terms of a court order that is issued in relation to the investigation or prosecution of an alleged violation of this section.
(e) (1) This section does not apply to a person solely because the person provided access or connection to or from an electronic method of remotely transferring information not under that person’s control, including having provided capabilities that are incidental to providing access or connection to or from the electronic method of remotely transferring the information, and that do not include the creation of the content of the material that is the subject of the access or connection. In addition, any person providing access or connection to or from an electronic method of remotely transferring information not under that person’s control shall not be liable for any action voluntarily taken in good faith to block the receipt or transmission through its service of any information that the person believes is, or will be sent, in violation of this section.
(2) Division (e)(1) of this section does not create an affirmative duty for any person providing access or connection to or from an electronic method of remotely transferring information not under that person’s control to block the receipt or transmission through its service of any information that it believes is, or will be sent, in violation of this section except as otherwise provided by law.
(3) Division (e)(1) of this section does not apply to a person who conspires with a person actively involved in the creation or knowing distribution of material in violation of this section or who knowingly advertises the availability of material of that nature.
(4) A provider or user of an interactive computer service, as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 230, shall neither be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider, as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 230, nor held civilly or criminally liable for the creation or development of information provided by another information content provider, as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 230. Nothing in this division shall be construed to protect a person from liability to the extent that the person developed or created any content in violation of this section.
(f) Divisions (a)(5) to (a)(11) and (b)(2) of this section do not apply to a person who, while employed or contracted by a newspaper, magazine, press association, news agency, news wire service, cable channel or cable operator, or radio or television station, is gathering, processing, transmitting, compiling, editing, or disseminating information for the general public within the scope of the person’s employment in that capacity or the person’s contractual authority in that capacity.
(g) As used in divisions (a) through (d) of this section:
(1) “Cable operator” has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 1332.21.
(2) “Caller” means the person described in division (a) of this section who makes or causes to be made a telecommunication or who permits a telecommunication to be made from a telecommunications device under that person’s control.
(3) “Economic harm” means all direct, incidental and consequential pecuniary harm suffered by a victim as a result of the criminal conduct. The term includes but is not limited to all of the following:
A. All wages, salaries or other compensation lost as a result of the criminal conduct;
B. The cost of all wages, salaries or other compensation paid to employees for time those employees are prevented from working as a result of the criminal conduct;
C. The overhead costs incurred from the time that a business is shut down as a result of the criminal conduct;
D. The loss of value to tangible or intangible property that was damaged as a result of the criminal conduct.
(4) “Family or household member” means any of the following:
A. Any of the following who is residing or has resided with the recipient of the telecommunication against whom the act prohibited in division (a)(9) of this section is committed:
1. A spouse, a person living as a spouse, or a former spouse of the recipient;
2. A parent, a foster parent, or a child of the recipient, or another person related by consanguinity or affinity to the recipient;
3. A parent or a child of a spouse, person living as a spouse, or former spouse of the recipient, or another person related by consanguinity or affinity to a spouse, person living as a spouse, or former spouse of the recipient.
B. The natural parent of any child of whom the recipient of the telecommunication against whom the act prohibited in division (a)(9) of this section is committed is the other natural parent or is the putative other natural parent.
(5) “Person living as a spouse” means a person who is living or has lived with the recipient of the telecommunication against whom the act prohibited in division (a)(9) of this section is committed in a common law marital relationship, who otherwise is cohabiting with the recipient, or who otherwise has cohabited with the recipient within five years prior to the date of the alleged commission of the act in question.
(6) “Sexual activity” has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 2907.01.
(7) “Telecommunication” and “telecommunications device” have the same meanings as in Ohio R.C. 2913.01.
(h) Nothing in this section prohibits a person from making a telecommunication to a debtor that is in compliance with the “Fair Debt Collection Practices Act,” 15 U.S.C. 1692, as amended, or the “Telephone Consumer Protection Act,” 47 U.S.C. 227, as amended.
(ORC 2917.21)
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