If you are facing criminal harassment charges, you need a criminal defence lawyer in Calgary to look at your case as soon as possible.

Criminal harassment, often called stalking, is when someone repeatedly follows, communicates with, watches, or threatens another person or their family members, causing them to reasonably fear for their safety.

  • To be found guilty of criminal harassment, the Crown prosecutor must prove that the accused knew their behaviour was harassing, and caused the victim to reasonably fear for their safety.
  • Criminal harassment is a hybrid offence in Canada, which means the Crown can choose to prosecute it as either a summary conviction offence or an indictable offence, depending on the seriousness of the case.
  • If prosecuted as an indictable offence, criminal harassment carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. If prosecuted summarily, the maximum penalties include up to two years in jail and/or a fine up to $5,000.
  • People convicted of criminal harassment usually receive probation conditions that prohibit any contact with the victim.

Strategic Criminal Defence is a top Google-rated criminal defence firm in Calgary, with over 500 5-star reviews. Our firm, and our experienced legal team, have defended clients in over 10,000 criminal cases. Leveraging our extensive network of lawyers and decades of experience, we craft defence strategies to help those accused of criminal harassment beat the charge.

The lawyers at Strategic Criminal Defence are both highly experienced and dedicated to defending your rights and future in the face of these charges. Contact a lawyer today by calling (403) 719-6410.

Key Takeaways

  • Section 264 of the Criminal Code says that stalking is when you follow, talk to, watch, or threaten someone repeatedly, making them reasonably afraid for their safety.
  • It is a hybrid offence, which means that the Crown can choose to charge it as either a summary or an indictable crime.
  • If it is tried as an indictable crime, the most you can get is 10 years in prison.
  • If someone is prosecuted summarily, they could go to jail for up to two years.
  • Some typical common bail conditions could be:
    • No contact with the victim
    • Staying a certain distance from the complainant’s home or place of work
    • Limits on how much you can use the internet and social media
    • There could be curfews or requirements to report.
  • With the right legal defence, you can definitely beat criminal harassment charges, especially when:
    • The contact was reasonable or had a good reason.
    • The complainant’s fear wasn’t based on facts.
    • There isn’t enough evidence to prove all the parts of the crime.

How Our Lawyers Help With a Criminal Harassment Charge

Our lawyers can help you from the start with precharge legal advice if you find out you’re being investigated. 

  • We can help you respond to accusations before charges are brought, which might stop charges from being brought at all.
  • Strategic Criminal Defence lawyers can help you avoid incriminating yourself by making sure you don’t say anything that could be seen as threatening or obsessive. You don’t have to worry about making things worse by mistake because our team can handle all of your communications with the police and prosecutors.
  • Our lawyers can get text messages, emails, social media posts, and location data that might show that what you did was reasonable or had a good reason for being done.
  • We might hire professionals to look at digital messages or figure out if the complainant’s fear was reasonable given the circumstances.
  • The laws against harassment and how the courts work can be hard to understand. Our team can help. We might even be able to come up with peace bonds or other ways to solve the problem without going to jail.
  • If we need to, we can question the Crown’s proof of your intent and whether the complainant’s fear was reasonable during the trial.

Examples of Criminal Harassment Charges

Here are some examples of could lead to Criminal Harassment charges: 

  • After a breakup, the man repeatedly drives by his ex-girlfriend’s house multiple times a day, parks across the street to watch her, and sends dozens of unwanted texts to her daily. She has asked him to stop but he won’t so she is now afraid to leave home alone.
  • A woman creates multiple fake social media accounts to monitor her former co-worker after being fired. She sends threatening messages suggesting she knows his daily schedule and where his children go to school, causing him to fear for his family’s safety.
  • A student repeatedly follows a classmate between classes, to their part-time job, and on the bus home, despite clear requests to stop. They leaves notes on their car and shows up wherever they go, making them afraid to travel alone.

Consequences of a Criminal Harassment Charge

If you are charged with criminal harassment, you could face serious legal consequences that could affect many parts of your life. 

  • Section 264 of the Criminal Code says that criminal harassment is a hybrid offence. This means that the Crown prosecutor can proceed either by indictment for more serious cases or a summary conviction for less serious ones. This choice changes the most severe punishments you could get.
  • If you are charged with criminal harassment, there is no minimum jail sentence, and the most you can get is 10 years in prison. More serious cases that involve threats or violence usually end in jail time, especially for people who do it repeatedly.
  • If you are charged with it summarily, the most severe penalties that can happen are jail time of up to two years and/or a fine of up to $5,000.
  • A conviction for criminal harassment not only comes with immediate legal consequences, but it also leaves you with a criminal record that can affect your job prospects, travel plans, and immigration status.
  • Probation conditions that limit your movements and communications are also common, and they can last for years. You might be told not to talk to the victim, stay away from certain places, or go to counselling.
  • The court may also give the victim a separate peace bond or restraining order to keep them safe.

Criminal Harassment Charge Defences

Here are some possible defences which may apply to your situation: 

  • Having a Lawful Authority: The lawful authority defence applies when you had the right to do what the complainant thought was harassment. For instance, you are a licensed private investigator. You were hired to follow someone as part of your work. This could be lawful authority. However, you would need to prove you stayed within the limits of your work and didn’t do anything more than what was reasonably necessary.
  • Not Knowing: This defence says you didn’t know what you were doing was making the complainant feel harassed. To be guilty of criminal harassment, you have to show that you either knew your actions were harassing or didn’t care that they might be. You might not have sufficient knowledge if you thought your messages were welcome because the person who complained was responding positively or keeping the conversation going.
  • No Reasonable Fear for Safety: This defence asks if the complainant’s fear was reasonable given the situation. It might not be fair to say you were scared if your messages were completely non-threatening and focused on real issues like co-parenting children or settling a business dispute. This defence often looks at the content and tone of messages to show that they wouldn’t make a reasonable person worry about their safety.

Criminal Harassment Charge Investigation

  • The police first ask the person who complained about the unwanted behaviour to tell them everything about it, like when it started, how often it happens, and why it makes them feel scared.
  • The officers will ask the person who is complaining for any proof they have, such as text messages, emails, voicemails, letters, social media posts, or pictures of the person they are accusing near their home or work. The police might also ask for the names of people who saw the harassment or how it made the person who complained feel.
  • Police often get surveillance footage from homes or businesses as part of their investigation. This footage may show the person being accused following or watching the person who made the complaint.
  • Police can check phone records to see if there are patterns of repeated calls.
  • After getting proof, the police usually talk to the person who is being accused. An accused person has the right to remain silent and/or talk to their lawyer.
  • The police can get a warrant to search the accused’s house if they think they might find things like journals, pictures of the victim, or communication devices there.

Bail Conditions for Criminal Harassment Charges

People who are accused of criminal harassment might be able to get out on bail while they wait for their trial or sentencing. Most of the time, the bail conditions for these charges are very strict. 

  • A no-contact order is the most important bail condition in almost every case. The person who is accused can’t talk to the victim in any way, like by phone, text, email, social media, or messages sent through other people.
  • There are also limits on where you can go. Most of the time, you will be told to stay away from the complainant’s home, work, school, or place of worship.
  • Depending on how serious the charges are, the court may require the person accused to wear an electronic monitoring device or stay inside at night.
  • The person who is accused will usually have to check in with a police station or bail supervisor on a regular basis. You might also have to give up your passport.
  • You might need to see a counsellor for mental health or anger management if the harassment seems to be caused by obsessive behaviour or emotional instability.
  • If you don’t follow these bail rules, the police could arrest you.

For more information, visit our page on The Bail Hearing Process in Calgary.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you follow, talk to, watch, or threaten someone over and over again, making them reasonably afraid for their safety, that is criminal harassment. The main things that make these actions against the law are that they have to happen more than once, be done without permission from the law, and you have to know or not care that your actions are bothering the person.

For example, texting someone over and over again after they’ve asked you to stop, driving by their house a lot, watching their job, or making threats are all examples. The law says that it is against the law to follow someone repeatedly, talk to them over and over again, watch or stalk them (like keeping an eye on their home), or threaten them.

The way the person acts and the fear it causes are what make this different from regular conflict or unwanted contact. If you send someone one angry message, that’s not usually harassment.

But if you send them thirty messages after being told to stop, that could be. The court looks at both what you did and whether the complainant’s fear was reasonable given the facts.

Yes, you can be charged with criminal harassment for things you do online or on social media. The law doesn’t make a difference between physical and digital stalking. Both can make people scared and are against the law under Section 264 of the Criminal Code.

Yes, a criminal harassment charge will appear on most background checks from the moment you are formally charged, even before conviction. This happens because the charge becomes part of your police record when you’re fingerprinted and photographed following arrest.

If you’re convicted of criminal harassment, this will appear on your criminal record permanently unless you obtain a record suspension (formerly called a pardon). Even if you receive a discharge (conditional or absolute), the conviction might still show up on vulnerable sector checks.