{"id":25557,"date":"2026-03-31T09:30:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T13:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/?p=25557"},"modified":"2026-03-31T09:34:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T13:34:41","slug":"what-is-considered-harassment-by-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-is-considered-harassment-by-law\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Considered Harassment by Law in Maine?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What Legally Counts as Harassment?<\/h2>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0 auto; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/FreeCall.png\" alt=\"The Webb Law Firm is a24-hour law firm with offices in Saco and Portland. We answer your call 24 hours a day. Free initial consultation. (207) 283-6400.\" width=\"730\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Harassment under the law is repeated unwanted conduct directed at a specific person. The intent must be to alarm, annoy, or threaten that person. Harassment can include phone calls, text messages, physical following, or written threats. It must serve no legitimate purpose. The exact definition varies by state, but most jurisdictions treat harassment as <a href=\"https:\/\/webblawmaine.com\/federal-and-state-criminal-defense.html\">criminal behavior<\/a> when the conduct forms a pattern and causes genuine distress.<\/p>\n<p>Maine defines <a href=\"https:\/\/legislature.maine.gov\/statutes\/17-A\/title17-Asec506-A.html\">harassment<\/a> as a form of criminal conduct. This statute lists specific types of conduct that qualify as criminal harassment when done with the intent to harass, torment, or threaten another person. The law requires that the behavior be intentional. Accidental or incidental contact &#8211; even if unwelcome &#8211; does not meet the legal threshold.<\/p>\n<div class=\"read_more_link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-is-considered-harassment-by-law\/\"  title=\"Continue Reading What Is Considered Harassment by Law in Maine?\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Legally Counts as Harassment? Harassment under the law is repeated unwanted conduct directed at a specific person. The intent must be to alarm, annoy, or threaten that person. Harassment can include phone calls, text messages, physical following, or written threats. It must serve no legitimate purpose. The exact definition varies by state, but most [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criminal-defense","category-maine-criminal-law"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What Is Considered Harassment by Law?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn what is considered harassment by law in Maine. Explore texting, stalking &amp; protective orders. Know your rights now.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-is-considered-harassment-by-law\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"What Is Considered Harassment by Law?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Learn what is considered harassment by law in Maine. Explore texting, stalking &amp; protective orders. 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Know your rights now.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Webb Law Firm","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-is-considered-harassment-by-law\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-is-considered-harassment-by-law\/"},"author":{"name":"Webb Law Firm","@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2a779c0cfb58df839ae19364412f5dc6"},"headline":"What Is Considered Harassment by Law in Maine?","datePublished":"2026-03-31T13:30:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-31T13:34:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-is-considered-harassment-by-law\/"},"wordCount":1889,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-is-considered-harassment-by-law\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","articleSection":["Criminal Defense","Maine Criminal Law"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-is-considered-harassment-by-law\/","url":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-is-considered-harassment-by-law\/","name":"What Is Considered Harassment by Law?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-is-considered-harassment-by-law\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/what-is-considered-harassment-by-law\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/social-image-logo-og.png","datePublished":"2026-03-31T13:30:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-31T13:34:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.webblawmaine.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2a779c0cfb58df839ae19364412f5dc6"},"description":"Learn what is considered harassment by law in Maine. 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