Legal Question in Criminal Law in Washington

assault or harassment?

well i was at a friend of mines house im a male and my friend is a female. While we were in her room i touched the back of her shirt and unsnapped her bra through the shirt because i thought it was funny, she thought it was funny and we both laughed about it and that was the end of it.

upon my drive home we exchanged 2 or 3 text messages about her chest and as a joke i texted ''can i see them?'' and of coarse she replied ''lol no you cant''. the next day i got a message from her boyfriend that said if i ever asked to see her chest agin me and him would have problems. i replyed to him and said threatining some one is a gross misdemeanor and he replyed back and said what i did was sexual harassment. ive looked at the RCWs and cant find much, because she never said no and i never did anything forcfully. what is it? and what should i do?


Asked on 4/15/07, 7:57 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
James Womack The Law Group, PLLC

Re: assault or harassment?

Well, it probably isnt an assault, although under the common law a threat can be considered an assault if the person issuing the threat places the person threatened in imminent fear of an assault. Responding to a text message purportedly threatening you is not sufficient evidence of imminency to establish common law assault. His use of the phrase indicating you and he "would have problems" is sufficiently vague that harassment/telephone harassment would not cover the activity. As this amounts to a misunderstanding with the female friend and you know she has a boyfriend, it is better to avoid contact with her paramour as emotions may lead to escalation. If you want to know more about possible charges, look in the municipal code of your city or RCW 9A.46.020.

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Answered on 4/15/07, 10:04 pm


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