Texas Penal Code 25.072 – Repeated Violation of Certain Court Orders or Conditions of Bond in Family Violence, Child Abuse or Neglect, Sexual Assault or Abuse, Stalking, or Trafficking Case

WHAT IS REPEATED VIOLATION OF CERTAIN COURT ORDERS OR CONDITIONS OF BOND IN FAMILY VIOLENCE, CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT, SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE, INDECENT ASSAULT, STALKING, OR TRAFFICKING CASE IN TEXAS?

Texas law increases the punishment for violating a protective order or bond condition in a family violence, child abuse or neglect, sexual assault, indecent assault, stalking, or human trafficking case two or more times within a year.

• What are the required findings to issue a protective order in Texas? Texas law authorizes several types of protective orders. To issue a protective order under Chapter 85 of the Family Code, the judge must first find family violence has occurred, and is likely to occur in the future. The protective order may last between two years and life, and prohibit a person from:

• • assaulting the protected person;
  • communicating directly with the protected person, or the protected person’s family or household member;
  • communicating in a threatening or harassing manner with the protected person or the protected person’s family or household member;
  • communicating a threat through any other person to the protected person, or a member of the protected person’s family or household;
  • harming, threatening, or interfering with the protected person’s pet or companion animal;
  • going to or near the protected person’s or protected person’s family’s residence, business, place of employment, or a protected child’s school or child care facility;
  • possessing a firearm, unless the person is a peace officer.

• What are the possible bond conditions in family violence, child abuse, sexual assault, indecent assault, stalking, and human trafficking cases? Article 17.292 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure allows a magistrate to prohibit a person arrested for family violence, child abuse or neglect, sexual assault, indecent assault, stalking, and human trafficking offenses from:

• • committing another assault against the victim, or an act in furtherance of stalking or human trafficking;
  • communicating directly with the victim, or the victim’s family or household member;
  • communicating in a threatening or harassing manner with the victim or the victim’s family or household member;
  • communicating a threat through any person to the victim, or a member of the victim’s family or household;
  • harming, threatening, or interfering with the victim’s pet or companion animal;
  • going to or near the victim’s or victim’s family’s residence, business, place of employment, or a protected child’s school or child care facility;
  • possessing a firearm, unless the person is a peace officer.

• Will a global positioning monitoring system (“GPS”), such as an ankle monitor, be ordered as a bond condition? A person arrested in Texas for family violence, child abuse or neglect, sexual assault, indecent assault, stalking, or human trafficking might be required to wear an ankle monitor as a condition of bond under Article 17.292 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.

  Regardless of whether the magistrate orders an arrestee to wear a GPS monitor, the magistrate may prohibit the arrestee from going to or near specifically described locations, and any minimum distances the person must maintain for the safety of the victim.

WHAT IS THE REPEATED VIOLATION OF CERTAIN COURT ORDERS OR CONDITIONS OF BOND IN FAMILY VIOLENCE, CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT, SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE, INDECENT ASSAULT, STALKING, OR TRAFFICKING CASE LAW IN TEXAS?

Tex. Penal Code § 25.072. REPEATED VIOLATION OF CERTAIN COURT ORDERS OR CONDITIONS OF BOND IN FAMILY VIOLENCE, CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT, SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE, INDECENT ASSAULT, STALKING, OR TRAFFICKING CASE.

(a) A person commits an offense if, during a period that is 12 months or less in duration, the person two or more times engages in conduct that constitutes an offense under Section 25.07.

(b) If the jury is the trier of fact, members of the jury must agree unanimously that the defendant, during a period that is 12 months or less in duration, two or more times engaged in conduct that constituted an offense under Section 25.07.

(c) A defendant may not be convicted in the same criminal action of another offense an element of which is any conduct that is alleged as an element of the offense under Subsection (a) unless the other offense:

(1) is charged in the alternative;

(2) occurred outside the period in which the offense alleged under Subsection (a) was committed; or

(3) is considered by the trier of fact to be a lesser included offense of the offense alleged under Subsection (a).

(d) A defendant may not be charged with more than one count under Subsection (a) if all of the specific conduct that is alleged to have been engaged in is alleged to have been committed in violation of a single court order or single setting of bond.

(e) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree.

WHAT IS THE PENALTY CLASS FOR REPEATED VIOLATION OF CERTAIN COURT ORDERS OR CONDITIONS OF BOND IN FAMILY VIOLENCE, CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT, SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE, INDECENT ASSAULT, STALKING, OR TRAFFICKING CASE IN TEXAS?

Repeatedly violating a protective order or bond condition in a family violence, child abuse or neglect, sexual assault, indecent assault, stalking, or human trafficking case is a third degree felony, punishable by two to ten years in prison.

WHAT IS THE PUNISHMENT RANGE FOR REPEATED VIOLATION OF CERTAIN COURT ORDERS OR CONDITIONS OF BOND IN FAMILY VIOLENCE, CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT, SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE, INDECENT ASSAULT, STALKING, OR TRAFFICKING CASE IN TEXAS?

The punishment range for repeatedly violating a protective order or condition of bond in a family violence, child abuse or neglect, sexual assault, indecent assault, stalking, and human trafficking case, a third degree felony, is two to ten years in prison, and a maximum $10,000 fine.

WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES FOR REPEATED VIOLATION OF CERTAIN COURT ORDERS OR CONDITIONS OF BOND IN FAMILY VIOLENCE, CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT, SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE, INDECENT ASSAULT, STALKING, OR TRAFFICKING CASE IN TEXAS?

A person charged with repeated violations of a protective order or condition of bond in a family violence, child abuse or neglect, sexual assault, indecent assault, stalking, or human trafficking case may be eligible for probation after a conviction, or deferred adjudication without a conviction, for a period not to exceed ten years.

WHAT ARE THE DEFENSES TO REPEATED VIOLATION OF CERTAIN COURT ORDERS OR CONDITIONS OF BOND IN FAMILY VIOLENCE, CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT, SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE, INDECENT ASSAULT, STALKING, OR TRAFFICKING CASE IN TEXAS?

The statute does not authorize specific defenses to repeated violations of a protective order or bond condition in a family violence, child abuse or neglect, sexual assault, indecent assault, stalking, or human trafficking case. A person accused thereof may attempt to negate one of the elements the State must prove at trial. For example, an accused may argue he or she had no notice of the protective order.

• What if the people affected by a protective order or bond condition reconciled or agreed not to follow the order? Texas law requires everyone to follow court orders and bond conditions pertaining to any criminal case in which they are the accused, regardless of whether the protected person and the accused, or subject of the protective order, reconcile. The law against violating protective orders and bond conditions explicitly states reconciliation and agreements do not affect the validity of protective orders, so a person who communicates with a victim or protected individual may be arrested for violating an order or bond condition.

• What if the accused did not read or get a copy of the protective order? Only a temporary ex parte protective order issued under Texas Family Code Section 83.001 must be served on a person before he can be accused of violating it. Otherwise, a person must only be served with a copy of the application for a protective order, and given notice of the hearing. If the person violates the protective order after it is issued, and has been served with the application and hearing notice, he cannot then claim lack of notice or knowledge. See Harvey v. State, 78 S.W.3d 368 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002).

WHAT IS THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR REPEATED VIOLATION OF CERTAIN COURT ORDERS OR CONDITIONS OF BOND IN FAMILY VIOLENCE, CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT, SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE, INDECENT ASSAULT, STALKING, OR TRAFFICKING CASE IN TEXAS?

The limitation period for repeated violations of a protective order or bond condition in a family violence, child abuse or neglect, sexual assault, indecent assault, stalking, or human trafficking case is three years.

REPEATED VIOLATION OF CERTAIN COURT ORDERS OR CONDITIONS OF BOND IN FAMILY VIOLENCE, CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT, SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE, INDECENT ASSAULT, STALKING, OR TRAFFICKING CASE IN TEXAS

The Texas law against repeatedly violating a protective order or bond condition in a family violence, child abuse or neglect, sexual assault, indecent assault, stalking, or human trafficking case punishes committing two or more violations within a 12-month period.

TEXAS REPEATED VIOLATION OF CERTAIN COURT ORDERS OR CONDITIONS OF BOND IN FAMILY VIOLENCE, CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT, SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE, INDECENT ASSAULT, STALKING, OR TRAFFICKING CASE COURT CASES

The case law regarding repeated violations of a protective order or bond condition in a family violence, child abuse or neglect, sexual assault, indecent assault, stalking, or human trafficking case in Texas illustrates the statute’s application.

• In Wesley v. State, the defendant was sent to prison for sexually assaulting the victim. When he was released years later, he went to her workplace. She applied for a lifetime protective order under Chapter 7B of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, and the defendant attended the hearing. The judge granted the protective order, but the defendant nevertheless went to the victim’s place of work three more times in the following months. He was convicted of violating the protective order at least twice within 12 months, and the appellate court affirmed.