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(6) Prohibiting the defendant from having any contact with the plaintiff or minor children, including, but not limited to, restraining the defendant from entering the place of employment or business or school of the plaintiff or minor children and from harassing the plaintiff or plaintiff's relatives or minor children.
(7) Ordering the defendant to temporarily relinquish to the sheriff the defendant's weapons.
(8) Directing the defendant to pay the plaintiff for reasonable losses suffered as a result of the abuse, including medical, dental, relocation and moving expenses; counseling; loss of earnings or support; costs of repair or replacement of real or personal property damaged, destroyed or taken by the defendant or at the direction of the defendant; and other out-of-pocket losses for injuries sustained. In addition to out-of-pocket losses, the court may direct the defendant to pay reasonable attorney fees.
(9) Directing the defendant to refrain from stalking or harassing the plaintiff or children.
The penalties for violating a PA Protection from Abuse order can be severe. Violations are brought to court as indirect criminal contempt (ICC) cases, and violators can be punished by fines and up to six months in jail. Additionally, PFA orders can have a significant impact on one's ability to own and carry weapons under state and federal firearms statutes, and may impact the accused abuser's ability to obtain or maintain employment. These are serious matters that demand serious attention.
The attorneys of Wolf, Baldwin & Associates, P.C. have helped many people in Pennsylvania Protection from Abuse cases. Our lawyers have represented both victims and alleged abusers in Montgomery County, Berks County, and Chester County. Please click here now to contact us. We will be happy to discuss your rights with you. Whether you are a victim of abuse, or whether you are facing charges of abuse, we can protect your rights, and guide you through this painful and emotionally-charged process.
Family law cases are a major focus at our firm, but not our only area of practice. To learn more about other legal matters our lawyers can help you resolve, including Workers' Compensation, Wills and Probate, and Real Estate matters, visit wolfbaldwin.com or workerscomplawyerpa.com.
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Protection from Abuse (PFA) Lawyers in Pennsylvania
Victims of abuse in Pennsylvania have a powerful tool to seek relief from their abusers in the Pennsylvania Protection from Abuse Act. This law provides judges with significant leverage to stop, or at least curtail, abusive, threatening, and violent conduct.
However, the PFA law does not cover everyone who may abuse others, nor was it designed to protect every victim of abuse or threats. The PFA law applies only to "family or household members." This term is defined as: spouses or persons who have been spouses, persons living as spouses or who lived as spouses, parents and children, other persons related by consanguinity or affinity, current or former sexual or intimate partners or persons who share biological parenthood.
Similarly, the term "abuse" is defined by the statute. In the Pennsylvania Protection from Abuse Act, abuse means the occurrence of one or more of the following acts between family or household members, sexual or intimate partners or persons who share biological parenthood:
(1) Attempting to cause or intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing bodily injury, serious bodily injury, rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault or incest with or without a deadly weapon.
(2) Placing another in reasonable fear of imminent serious bodily injury.
(3) The infliction of false imprisonment pursuant to 18 Pa.C.S. § 2903 (relating to false imprisonment).
(4) Physically or sexually abusing minor children, including such terms as defined in Chapter 63 (relating to child protective services).
(5) Knowingly engaging in a course of conduct or repeatedly committing acts toward another person, including following the person, without proper authority, under circumstances which place the person in reasonable fear of bodily injury.
Victims may file a petition with the court to seek relief under the PFA Act, and defendants are entitled to a hearing. If the parties agree that a PFA order is appropriate, or if the judge finds that there has been abuse, the judge can make various orders designed to protect the victim, such as:
(1) Directing the defendant to refrain from abusing the plaintiff or minor children.
(2) Granting possession to the plaintiff of the residence or household by evicting the defendant.
(3) When the defendant has a duty to support the plaintiff or minor children living in the residence or household and the defendant is the sole owner or lessee, granting possession to the plaintiff of the residence or household by evicting the defendant.
(4) Awarding temporary custody of or establishing temporary visitation rights with regard to minor children.
(5) After a hearing, directing the defendant to pay temporary support to those persons the defendant has a duty to support, requiring the defendant to provide health coverage for the minor child and spouse, directing the defendant to pay all of the unreimbursed medical expenses of a spouse or minor child of the defendant to the provider or to the plaintiff when he or she has paid for the medical treatment, and directing the defendant to make or continue to make rent or mortgage payments on the residence of the plaintiff to the extent that the defendant has a duty to support the plaintiff or other dependent household members.
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