BILL WOULD AID STALKER VICTIMS.Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer LANCASTER - Anti-stalking legislation under consideration by state lawmakers is aimed at helping domestic-violence victims escape their abusers. Assembly Bill 978 would make it a misdemeanor for anyone targeted by a restraining order restraining order: see injunction. to try to locate the victim by any ``third-party means,'' including the Internet or by hiring a private detective. The legislation is predicated on the concept that someone who has legally been restrained from contacting another individual has no legitimate reason to discover that person's whereabouts, said Assemblywoman Sharon Runner Sharon Runner (born May 17 1954, Los Angeles) is a Californian politician. She has been a member of the California State Assembly since 2002. Runner, a Republican from Antelope Valley represents the 36th district. , the bill's author. ``To tell a stalker that he can't contact his victim, but that he can track them down, is like putting a kitten in front of a pit bull and telling it to sit still,'' said Runner, a Lancaster Republican. The bill is supported by the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Domestic Violence Council and was prompted by a Central California Central California can refer to one of several divisions or regions of the U.S state of California:
Margaret ``Peggy'' Klinke had been threatened several times, obtained a restraining order and even moved, but Patrick Kennedy
Patrick Kennedy (c. 1823 – November 22, 1858) was the father of Patrick Joseph Kennedy and great grandfather to former United States President John F. hired a private investigator to locate her, Runner said. A close friend of Klinke lives in the Antelope Valley and brought the case to Runner's attention. The new law is necessary because many batterers become obsessed ob·sess v. ob·sessed, ob·sess·ing, ob·sess·es v.tr. To preoccupy the mind of excessively. v.intr. with finding a victim who has left, said Carol Ensign, executive director of the Antelope Valley Domestic Violence Council, which runs the Valley Oasis shelter for domestic violence victims, both men and women. Ensign said national statistics show that about 60 percent of people killed in domestic-violence situations are killed after they leave the relationship. The majority have some type of restraining order against the batterer. ``We have to do six to eight safety moves a month,'' Ensign said. ``That's where the spouse finds the victim at the shelter and they have to be moved to another shelter.'' In one case, a man sent his new girlfriend from battered women's shelter A Women's Shelter is a place of temporary refuge and support for women escaping violent situations, such as rape, and domestic violence. Having the ability to leave a situation of violence is valuable for women who are under attack because such situations frequently involve an to battered women's shelter trying to find his ex-spouse, she said. The legislation poses the threat of a jail sentence jail sentence jail n → peine f de prison for trying to find a victim. ``For a lot of batterers, they're not going to risk going to jail for that,'' Ensign said. ``But even if it's 30 (percent) or 40 percent who won't take the chance, that's successful.'' |
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