Virginia Law

Article 6. Extortion and Other Threats.

Any person who (i) threatens injury to the character, person, or property of another person, (ii) accuses him of any offense, (iii) threatens to report him as being illegally present in the United States, or (iv) knowingly destroys, conceals, removes, confiscates, withholds or threatens to withhold, or possesses any actual or purported passport or other immigration document, or any other actual or purported government identification document, of another person, and thereby extorts money, property, or pecuniary benefit or any note, bond, or other evidence of debt from him or any other person, is guilty of a Class 5 felony.

For the purposes of this section, injury to property includes the sale, distribution, or release of identifying information defined in clauses (iii) through (xii) of subsection C of § 18.2-186.3, but does not include the distribution or release of such information by a person who does so with the intent to obtain money, property or a pecuniary benefit to which he reasonably believes he is lawfully entitled.

Code 1950, § 18.1-184; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 2006, c. 313; 2007, cc. 453, 547; 2010, c. 298.

A. Any person who maliciously threatens in writing, including an electronically transmitted communication producing a visual or electronic message, (i) to disseminate, sell, or publish a videographic or still image, created by any means whatsoever, or (ii) to not delete, remove, or take back a previously disseminated, sold, or published videographic or still image, created by any means whatsoever, that depicts the complaining witness or such complaining witness's family or household member, as defined in § 16.1-228, as totally nude or in a state of undress so as to expose the genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breast with the intent to cause the complaining witness to engage in sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anilingus, anal intercourse, inanimate or animate object sexual penetration, or an act of sexual abuse, as defined in § 18.2-67.10, and thereby engages in sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anilingus, anal intercourse, inanimate or animate object sexual penetration, or an act of sexual abuse, as defined in § 18.2-67.10, is guilty of a Class 5 felony. However, any adult who violates this section with a person under the age of 18 is guilty of a felony punishable by confinement in a state correctional facility for a term of not less than one nor more than 20 years and by a fine of not more than $100,000.

B. A prosecution pursuant to this section may be in the county, city, or town in which the communication was either made or received.

2023, c. 612.

A. 1. Any person who knowingly communicates, in a writing, including an electronically transmitted communication producing a visual or electronic message, a threat to kill or do bodily injury to a person, regarding that person or any member of his family, and the threat places such person in reasonable apprehension of death or bodily injury to himself or his family member, is guilty of a Class 6 felony. However, any person who violates this subsection with the intent to commit an act of terrorism as defined in § 18.2-46.4 is guilty of a Class 5 felony.

2. Any person who communicates a threat, in a writing, including an electronically transmitted communication producing a visual or electronic message, to kill or do bodily harm, (i) on the grounds or premises of any elementary, middle or secondary school property; (ii) at any elementary, middle or secondary school-sponsored event; or (iii) on a school bus to any person or persons, regardless of whether the person who is the object of the threat actually receives the threat, and the threat would place the person who is the object of the threat in reasonable apprehension of death or bodily harm, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

3. Any person 18 years of age or older who communicates a threat in writing, including an electronically transmitted communication producing a visual or electronic message, to another to kill or to do serious bodily injury to any other person and makes such threat with the intent to (i) intimidate a civilian population at large; (ii) influence the conduct or activities of a government, including the government of the United States, a state, or a locality, through intimidation; or (iii) compel the emergency evacuation, or avoidance, of any place of assembly, any building or other structure, or any means of mass transportation is guilty of a Class 5 felony. Any person younger than 18 years of age who commits such offense is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

B. Any person who orally makes a threat to kill or to do bodily injury to (i) any employee of any elementary, middle, or secondary school, while on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity or (ii) any health care provider as defined in § 8.01-581.1 who is engaged in the performance of his duties while on the premises of any facility rendering health care as defined in § 8.01-581.1, unless the health care provider is on the premises of any facility rendering health care as defined in § 8.1-581.1 or emergency medical care as a result of an emergency custody order pursuant to § 37.2-808, involuntary temporary detention order pursuant to § 37.2-809, involuntary hospitalization order pursuant to § 37.2-817, or emergency custody order of a conditionally released acquittee pursuant to § 19.2-182.9, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

C. A prosecution pursuant to this section may be in either the county, city, or town in which the communication was made or received.

Code 1950, § 18.1-257; 1960, c. 358; 1973, c. 118; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 1994, c. 265; 1998, cc. 687, 788; 2001, cc. 644, 653; 2002, cc. 588, 623; 2019, c. 506; 2020, c. 1002; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 83, 84; 2022, c. 336; 2023, c. 200.

Any person who shall knowingly and willfully send, deliver or convey, or cause to be sent, delivered or conveyed, to the Governor or his immediate family any threat to take the life of or inflict bodily harm upon the Governor or his immediate family, whether such threat be oral or written, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

1982, c. 568; 2020, c. 1002; 2022, c. 336.

As used in § 18.2-60.1, the immediate family of the Governor shall include any parent, sibling, child, grandchild, spouse, parent of a spouse, and spouse of a sibling, child or grandchild who resides in the same household as the Governor.

1982, c. 568.

A. Any person, except a law-enforcement officer, as defined in § 9.1-101, and acting in the performance of his official duties, and a registered private investigator, as defined in § 9.1-138, who is regulated in accordance with § 9.1-139 and acting in the course of his legitimate business, who on more than one occasion engages in conduct, either in person or through any other means, including by mail, telephone, or an electronically transmitted communication, directed at another person with the intent to place, or when he knows or reasonably should know that the conduct places that other person in reasonable fear of death, criminal sexual assault, or bodily injury to that other person or to that other person's family or household member is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. If the person contacts or follows or attempts to contact or follow the person at whom the conduct is directed after being given actual notice that the person does not want to be contacted or followed, such actions shall be prima facie evidence that the person intended to place that other person, or reasonably should have known that the other person was placed, in reasonable fear of death, criminal sexual assault, or bodily injury to himself or a family or household member.

B. Any person who is convicted of a second offense of subsection A occurring within five years of a prior conviction of such an offense under this section or for a substantially similar offense under the law of any other jurisdiction is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

C. A person may be convicted under this section in any jurisdiction within the Commonwealth wherein the conduct described in subsection A occurred, if the person engaged in that conduct on at least one occasion in the jurisdiction where the person is tried or in the jurisdiction where the person at whom the conduct is directed resided at the time of such conduct. Evidence of any such conduct that occurred outside the Commonwealth may be admissible, if relevant, in any prosecution under this section.

D. Upon finding a person guilty under this section, the court shall, in addition to the sentence imposed, issue an order prohibiting contact between the defendant and the victim or the victim's family or household member.

E. The Department of Corrections, sheriff or regional jail director shall give notice prior to the release from a state correctional facility or a local or regional jail of any person incarcerated upon conviction of a violation of this section, to any victim of the offense who, in writing, requests notice, or to any person designated in writing by the victim. The notice shall be given at least 15 days prior to release of a person sentenced to a term of incarceration of more than 30 days or, if the person was sentenced to a term of incarceration of at least 48 hours but no more than 30 days, 24 hours prior to release. If the person escapes, notice shall be given as soon as practicable following the escape. The victim shall keep the Department of Corrections, sheriff or regional jail director informed of the current mailing address and telephone number of the person named in the writing submitted to receive notice.

All information relating to any person who receives or may receive notice under this subsection shall remain confidential and shall not be made available to the person convicted of violating this section.

For purposes of this subsection, "release" includes a release of the offender from a state correctional facility or a local or regional jail (i) upon completion of his term of incarceration or (ii) on probation or parole.

No civil liability shall attach to the Department of Corrections nor to any sheriff or regional jail director or their deputies or employees for a failure to comply with the requirements of this subsection.

F. For purposes of this section:

"Family or household member" has the same meaning as provided in § 16.1-228.

1992, c. 888; 1994, cc. 360, 521, 739; 1995, c. 824; 1996, cc. 540, 866; 1998, c. 570; 2001, c. 197; 2002, c. 377; 2013, c. 759; 2016, cc. 545, 696, 745; 2022, c. 276.

A. Any person who violates any provision of a protective order issued pursuant to § 19.2-152.8, 19.2-152.9, or 19.2-152.10 is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Conviction hereunder shall bar a finding of contempt for the same act. The punishment for any person convicted of a second offense of violating a protective order, other than a protective order issued pursuant to subsection C of § 19.2-152.10, when the offense is committed within five years of the prior conviction and when either the instant or prior offense was based on an act or threat of violence, shall include a mandatory minimum term of confinement of 60 days. Any person convicted of a third or subsequent offense of violating a protective order, other than a protective order issued pursuant to subsection C of § 19.2-152.10, when the offense is committed within 20 years of the first conviction and when either the instant or one of the prior offenses was based on an act or threat of violence, is guilty of a Class 6 felony and the punishment shall include a mandatory minimum term of confinement of six months. The mandatory minimum terms of confinement prescribed for violations of this section shall be served consecutively with any other sentence.

B. In addition to any other penalty provided by law, any person who, while knowingly armed with a firearm or other deadly weapon, violates any provision of a protective order with which he has been served issued pursuant to § 19.2-152.8, 19.2-152.9, or 19.2-152.10, other than a protective order issued pursuant to subsection C of § 19.2-152.10, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

C. If the respondent commits an assault and battery upon any party protected by the protective order, other than a protective order issued pursuant to subsection C of § 19.2-152.10, resulting in bodily injury to the party or stalks any party protected by the protective order in violation of § 18.2-60.3, he is guilty of a Class 6 felony. Any person who violates such a protective order, other than a protective order issued pursuant to subsection C of § 19.2-152.10, by furtively entering the home of any protected party while the party is present, or by entering and remaining in the home of the protected party until the party arrives, is guilty of a Class 6 felony, in addition to any other penalty provided by law.

D. Upon conviction of any offense hereunder for which a mandatory minimum term of confinement is not specified, the person shall be sentenced to a term of confinement and in no case shall the entire term imposed be suspended.

E. Upon conviction, the court shall, in addition to the sentence imposed, enter a protective order pursuant to § 19.2-152.10 for a specified period not exceeding two years from the date of conviction.

F. A violation of this section may be prosecuted in the jurisdiction where the protective order was issued, in any county, city, or town where any act constituting the violation of the protective order occurred, or in the jurisdiction where the party protected by the protective order resided at the time of such violation.

1998, c. 569; 2003, c. 219; 2011, cc. 445, 480; 2013, cc. 761, 774; 2016, cc. 583, 585, 638; 2020, cc. 487, 1005; 2024, cc. 108, 118.

A. Any person who installs or places an electronic tracking device through intentionally deceptive means and without consent, or causes an electronic tracking device to be installed or placed through intentionally deceptive means and without consent, and uses such device to track the location of any person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

B. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the installation, placement, or use of an electronic tracking device by:

1. A law-enforcement officer, judicial officer, probation or parole officer, or employee of the Department of Corrections when any such person is engaged in the lawful performance of official duties and in accordance with other state or federal law;

2. The parent or legal guardian of a minor when tracking (i) the minor or (ii) any person authorized by the parent or legal guardian as a caretaker of the minor at any time when the minor is under the person's sole care;

3. A legally authorized representative of a vulnerable adult, as defined in § 18.2-369;

4. The owner of fleet vehicles, when tracking such vehicles;

5. An electronic communications provider to the extent that such installation, placement, or use is disclosed in the provider's terms of use, privacy policy, or similar document made available to the customer; or

6. A registered private investigator, as defined in § 9.1-138, who is regulated in accordance with § 9.1-139 and is acting in the normal course of his business and with the consent of the owner of the property upon which the electronic tracking device is installed and placed. However, such exception shall not apply if the private investigator is working on behalf of a client who is subject to a protective order under § 16.1-253, 16.1-253.1, 16.1-253.4, 16.1-279.1, 19.2-152.8, 19.2-152.9, or 19.2-152.10 or subsection B of § 20-103, or if the private investigator knows or should reasonably know that the client seeks the private investigator's services to aid in the commission of a crime.

C. For the purposes of this section:

"Electronic tracking device" means an electronic or mechanical device that permits a person to remotely determine or track the position and movement of another person.

"Fleet vehicle" means (i) one or more motor vehicles owned by a single entity and operated by employees or agents of the entity for business or government purposes, (ii) motor vehicles held for lease or rental to the general public, or (iii) motor vehicles held for sale by motor vehicle dealers.

2013, c. 434; 2020, c. 140; 2022, cc. 259, 642.