What is a Personal Liberty Crime in Florida?: Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney shares
At the core, personal liberty crimes in Florida involve a person’s intentional actions that purposely deprive another person of his or her sense of liberty and security.
Personal liberty crimes vary in types and forms, such as from kidnapping to written threats.
Common personal liberty crimes in Florida include:
- Stalking
- Aggravated Stalking
- False Imprisonment
- Kidnapping
- Written Threats to Kill or Injure Someone
- Human Trafficking
Stalking in Florida involves a person willfully, maliciously, and continuously following, harassing, or cyberstalking another person.
Aggravated Stalking in Florida involves a person willfully, maliciously, and continuously following, harassing, or cyberstalking another person AND: the victim is either under 16, or the defendant threatens the victim, or the defendant has a previous sex crime conviction, or there is a no contact order in place protecting the victim from the defendant.
False Imprisonment in Florida involves a person depriving another person’s personal liberty or freedom of movement for any length of time.
Kidnapping in Florida involves someone confining, abducting or imprisoning another person either secretly, forcibly or through threat. The kidnapping also involves the holding of the victim against their will as ransom or hostage for money, to inflict harm or to require the kidnapped person to commit a felony crime.
Written Threats to Kill or Injure Someone in Florida involves a person sending any written or electronic communication or message that contains a threat to kill or to commit bodily injury to another person, or contains a threat to conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism.
Human Trafficking in Florida involves a person knowingly, or in reckless disregard of the facts; transporting, recruiting or obtaining another person(s) for the purpose of exploiting him or her for labor services or commercial sexual activity. Typically, for it to be considered human trafficking the victim must be forced into the labor or sexual commercial activity through threat, fraud or coercion.
As you can see, personal liberty crimes in Florida cover a multitude of different crimes. While they all have to do with denying another person their sense of liberty, freedom and security – there certainly is a difference between cyberstalking and human trafficking, for example.
Consequences of Personal Liberty Crimes in South Florida
As personal liberty crimes vary in Florida, so do the consequences.
Stalking is a first-degree misdemeanor, for example, with a penalty of up to one year in jail (and/or on probation) and up to $1,000 fines if the defendant is convicted of the crime.
Kidnapping, on the other hand, can result in up to life in prison or life on probation.
Personal Liberty Crimes in Florida can range from first-degree misdemeanors to first-degree felonies, depending on the circumstances & details of each case.
First-degree felonies can carry penalties of up to 30 years in prison – or up to life in prison – if the defendant is convicted.
As stated above, a first-degree misdemeanor can range in up to a year in prison.
Depending on the personal liberty crime committed, the possible range of imprisonment someone might be facing if convicted of the crime could be anywhere from zero time in jail all the way up to life in prison.
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- Fort Lauderdale: (754) 206-6200
- Sunrise: (754) 999-2499
- Boca Raton: (561) 880-8181
RELATED →Learn more about Personal Liberty Crimes in Florida here.
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