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New Jersey Appellate Division Decision – Victim’s Assistance and Survivor Protection Act (VASPA)
On December 1, 2025, the New Jersey Appellate Division decided A.C. v. R.S., ___ N.J. Super ___ (App. Div. 2025), determining that a text message can be considered an online communication under the Victim’s Assistance and Survivor Protection Act (VASPA), N.J.S.A. 2C:14-13 to -21. .
Facts and Procedural History
Plaintiff A.C. filed a complaint alleging defendant R.S. committed stalking and cyber-harassment. She obtained a temporary protective order against defendant because of a single incident which occurred outside of plaintiff’s home. Plaintiff and defendant did not know each other; however, at the time of the incident plaintiff engaged in a romantic relationship with defendant’s husband.
At the conclusion of a hearing, the trial court entered a final protective order (FPO) finding that although plaintiff had not proved stalking because there was only one incident, she had proved defendant committed cyber-harassment when she sent a text threatening to contact the Essex County Department of Corrections (ECDOC) and plaintiff’s new employer. The trial judge also found defendant’s text regarding her husband having performed oral sex on her was a lewd comment directed at plaintiff “for the purposes of harassment.” The intent to harass was further supported by the fact that defendant sent the texts at 2:00 a.m., did not leave after her encounter with the police, and went to the home where the father of plaintiff’s children resided.
Defendant appealed from the FPO arguing that the court’s finding of cyber-harassment was erroneous because her communications were not made online or through social media and, therefore, a text communication cannot be considered cyber-harassment.
Analysis
The Appellate Division reversed finding that plaintiff did not establish a predicate act under VASPA. The record did not support a finding of cyber-harassment under N.J.S.A. 2C:14-14(a)(1), because defendant did not commit a “lewd act” by bragging about her own sexual prowess and did not threaten to inflict injury or harm to or commit a crime against plaintiff’s property.
The Appellate Division also held that although a threat against one’s job by contacting an employer can be a form of threat against property under N.J.S.A. 2C:14-14(a)(1), in this case there was no evidence that defendant intended to do anything other than inform plaintiff’s employer about the relationship between plaintiff and defendant’s husband, which was not actionable conduct under N.J.S.A. 2C:14-14(a)(1).
Nonethless, the Appellate Division rejected defendant’s contention that a text message is not a “communication[] in an online capacity” under N.J.S.A. 2C:14-14(a)(1). The court reasoned that because text messages can be sent via a cellular network or the internet, they are a form of online communication. Therefore, given the ubiquity of texting and the New Jersey Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Legislative intent of VASPA to afford victims maximum protection of the law, the Appellate Division concluded that the Legislature did not intend to exclude text messages as a form of online communications under N.J.S.A. 2C:14-14(a)(1).
Conclusion – Key Takeaways from the VASPA Case
Text messages can be considered an online communication under VASPA, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-14(a)(1).
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