A young woman, who was previously a candidate attorney at a large and reputable law firm in Cape Town, was found guilty in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bellville

on 24 criminal charges relating to Facebook and email activities. Some of the charges included crimen injuria (unlawfully, intentionally and seriously impairing the dignity of another), fraud, sending out false information on the internet, intimidation and interception or interference with data.

The young woman engaged in this behaviour in 2012, for a period of approximately 9 months, until she was arrested. Her actions, which can only be described as stalking behavior, included setting up fake Facebook profiles in the names of her work superior and his fiancé and signing them up for adult entertainment newsletters, stating that they were interested in “adult activities” and revealing their contact details.  She also sent numerous SMS messages and Facebook messages.

This case makes it clear that the criminal courts are taking this type of behaviour seriously and it is not just the risk of civil claims that cyber stalkers face when engaging in this type of behaviour. The new Cybercrimes Bill will deal with this type of offence in more detail, however the existing law is sufficient to deal with these types of criminals until that Bill is passed.