House parks bill adding new felony for threats via electronic devices
By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV
CHARLESTON, WV – On Thursday, the House of Delegates indefinitely postponed action on a bill adding a new felony to state code. SB 473 would have added a “broad” layer to the law alongside the state’s terroristic threat statutes, making it illegal to use an electronic device to intentionally threaten the public.
In committee discussion last month, one senator called it an “anti-swatting” statute while another said it stemmed from a threat to a school via an online gaming system.
Sen. Robbie Morris, R-Randolph, sponsored the bill after receiving phone calls from concerned parents in his district. “An individual who lives 50 yards from a school made comments while playing a game that he often wondered how easy it would be to pick off (shoot) students from his back porch. His back porch overlooks the playground of an elementary school.”
Morris said a person from Florida playing the game with the West Virginia man reported the comments to the FBI. Following a state investigation, the man was arrested and charged. But Morris said that led to another problem.
“The individual was sent back home during the process,” he told senators. “That sparked extreme concern and chaos (since he was so close to the school he had threatened while on home confinement).”
Morris said he spoke with county prosecutors to try and ensure in the future that someone who threatened the public would not mistakenly be placed back in a place they could harm others during any judicial process.
Sen. Laura Chapman, R-Ohio, asked committee counsel, “I just wanna make sure this bill wouldn’t give a felony to two 15-year olds playing Call of Duty and joking back and forth with one another? I think this is an anti-swatting statute.”
Counsel agreed that the scenario Chapman asked about wouldn’t lead to a felony charge under this new law, but he did affirm that gaming systems are one of the named means by which threats using electronic devices can be charged.
In response to a question about how the bill compares to the state’s current terroristic threat law, which limits the intent of threats to intimidate the government or influence public policy, counsel said, “This is broader.”
Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, successfully added an amendment to clarify that a person must intentionally threaten the public in order to be found guilty of this new felony.
Sen. Tom Willis, R-Berkley, presented the bill on the floor to senators on February 10, saying, “This legislation fills an important gap…in our terroristic threat statute, which requires that the person try to influence or harm the government.”
He explained the punishments for conviction under the new felony statute would be a range of imprisonment for 2-10 years and a fine of $2,500-$10,000. Additionally, he noted that the person convicted of the crime would be prevented from being within 3,000 feet of the place or people they threaten under the new law.
The bill received unanimous support in the Senate but was postponed indefinitely in the House of Delegates on Thursday. It could still be acted upon Saturday in the final day of this year’s legislative session. Stay tuned to RealWV for updates.
