Bills working their way through the state legislature would crack down on cyber-bullying and other crimes committed over the internet.
The bills would make crimes of things like harassing or stalking someone over the internet.
Should the legislation pass, a first offense would result in a 93 day misdemeanor, and a second offense could land up to a year in jail. And the penalties get more severe if the crime results in injury or death.
State Representative Peter Lucido is sponsoring the bills. He said we live in a time where there isn’t as much face to face interaction.
“So we’ve got to go with the times and look at what we can do to protect people. We’ve seen suicides and numbers just escalate throughout the state as a result of people that are taking advantage of people.”
Lucido said there are several tools available to law enforcement to identify people who are hiding their identity on the internet. He said his legislation would allow police to use those tools to crack down on perpetrators.
The bills have been approved by the House, and are awaiting action in the senate.
A link to the bills can be found here.