Although they had separated about two years earlier, a former partner left notes on the vehicle of his ex, containing implied threats, such as “my next request to see the cat will shake worlds”, and also uploaded numerous social media posts, including comics and pictures depicting himself, the woman, her current partner, and their former shared cat. In these posts, the woman was portrayed as unfaithful, and her partner was ridiculed.
The court granted the motion for a cease and desist of harassment. A threatening harassment is the harassment of a person or making threats against such in circumstances that raise a reasonable concern for harm to that person’s peace of life, privacy, or freedom. It also includes surveillance, pursuit, violation of privacy or repeated contact. Even implied, suggestive, or indirect harassments and threats, which do not constitute a criminal offense, may still be deemed a threatening harassment. Here, the placement of the threatening notes together with the social media posts concerning the woman, her new partner and the former shared cat created an obsessive and disturbing pattern that justified granting the protective order. Therefore, the former partner was prohibited, for a period of six months, from harassing, threatening, following, or contacting the woman in any way and from approaching her residence, vehicle or workplace at a distance of less than 50 meters.