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(EDITOR'S NOTE: Section 636.07 was repealed as part of the 1999 updating and revision of these Codified Ordinances because substantially equivalent State law (Ohio R.C. 2905.04) was repealed by the Ohio General Assembly by Amended S.B. No. 2, effective July 1, 1996.)
(a) No person, with purpose to coerce another into taking or refraining from action concerning which he or she 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 his or her personal or business repute, or to impair his or her 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 he or she 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 probation on certain conditions, including without limitation requiring the offender to make restitution or redress to the victim of his or her 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 his or her purpose was limited to:
(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, “threat” includes a direct threat and a threat by innuendo.
(ORC 2905.12)
(a) No person shall abandon, or fail to provide adequate support to:
(1) The person's spouse, as required by law;
(2) The person's child who is under age 18, or the persons's child with a mental or physical disability who is under age 21;
(3) The person's aged or infirm parent or adoptive parent, who from lack of ability and means is unable to provide adequately for the parent's own support.
(b) (1) No person shall abandon, or fail to provide support as established by a court order to, another person whom, by court order or decree, the person:
A. Is legally obligated to support; or
B. Was legally obligated to support, and an amount for support:
1. Was due and owing prior to the date the person’s duty to pay current support terminated; and
2. Remains unpaid.
(2) The period of limitation under R.C. § 2901.13 applicable to division (b)(1)B. of this section shall begin to run on the date the person’s duty to pay current support terminates.
(c) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under division (a)(3) of this section that the parent abandoned the accused or failed to support the accused as required by law, while the accused was under age 18, or had a mental or physical disability and was under age 21.
(d) It is an affirmative defense to a charge of failure to provide adequate support under division (a) of this section or a charge of failure to provide support established by a court order under division (b) of this section that the accused was unable to provide adequate support or the established support, but did provide the support that was within his or her ability and means.
(e) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under division (a)(3) of this section that the parent abandoned the accused, or failed to support the accused as required by law, while the accused was under age 18, or was mentally or physically disabled and under age 21.
(f) It is not a defense to a charge under division (b) of this section that the person whom a court has ordered the accused to support is being adequately supported by someone other than the accused.
(g) (1) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates division (a) or (b) of this section is guilty of nonsupport of dependents, a misdemeanor of the first degree. If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of division (a)(2) or (b) of this section or a substantially equivalent State law or municipal ordinance, or if the offender has failed to provide support under division (a)(2) or (b) of this section for a total accumulated period of 26 weeks out of 104 consecutive weeks, whether or not the 26 weeks were consecutive, then a violation of division (a)(2) or (b) of this section is a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate State law. If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony violation of this section or a substantially equivalent State law or municipal ordinance, a violation of division (a)(2) or (b) of this section is a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate State law.
(2) If the offender is guilty of nonsupport of dependents by reason of failing to provide support to his or her child as required by a child support order issued on or after April 15, 1985, pursuant to Ohio R.C. 2151.23, 2151.231, 2151.232, 2151.33, 3105.21, 3109.05, 3111.13, 3113.04, 3113.31, 3115.401, or former Ohio R.C. 3115.31, the court, in addition to any other sentence imposed, shall assess all court costs arising out of the charge against the person and require the person to pay any reasonable attorney's fees of any adverse party other than the State, as determined by the court, that arose in relation to the charge.
(3) Whoever violates division (c) of this section is guilty of contributing to the nonsupport of dependents, a misdemeanor of the first degree. Each day of a violation of division (c) of this section is a separate offense.
(ORC 2919.21)
(a) No person shall willfully refuse immediately to yield or relinquish the use of a party line to another person for the purpose of permitting such other person to report a fire or summon law enforcement agencies, ambulance service, medical or other aid in case of emergency.
(b) No person shall ask for or request the use of a party line on the pretext that an emergency exists, knowing that no emergency exists.
(c) As used in this section:
(1) “Party line” means a subscriber's line telephone circuit to which two or more main telephone stations are connected, each station having a distinctive ring or telephone number.
(2) “Emergency” means a situation in which property or human life is in jeopardy and in which prompt summoning of aid is essential.
(ORC 4931.30) (Ord. 1972-1. Passed 1-24-72.)
(d) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.
(ORC 4931.99(B))
(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. (Ord. 2012-20. Passed 5-21-12.)
(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, 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.
(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) For the purpose of divisions (a) through (d) of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
(1) “Cable operator.” Has the same meaning as in R.C. § 1332.21.
(2) “Caller” means the person described in division (c) 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.
(R.C. § 2917.21)
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