TOP TEN THINGS TO KNOW WHEN FACING A SEXUAL VIOLENCE OR INTIMIDATION ACT TEMPORARY PROTECTION ORDER IN PENNSYLVANIA
1. A woman, more often than a man, can go to Court, on her own or aided by any number of public charities, or by her lawyer, and ask that the Court issue a temporary order of protection against you. Basically every Courthouse in every county in Pennsylvania has a procedure that helps her do so. For example, in Philadelphia this whole web page lets you do it: Get a restraining order | Services | City of Philadelphia. The whole state, in fact, has this system in place, as you can see here: Protection Orders | Learn | Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania
2. She will receive that order, on the spot, assuming she swears to the Court that you are a risk to her. The Pennsylvania law that allows for this to happen is the Protection of Victims of Sexual Violence or Intimidation Act, which you can find here: Title 42 - PA General Assembly.
3. If this happens to you, it will take a dramatic form: The police, the sheriff, or the state troopers will go to your house, your work, or wherever they can find you and ask you to identify yourself and then give you a piece of paper from the Court. The optics here matter: you will receive that piece of paper from a police officer, in uniform, likely with officer back-up and flashing beacon on the patrol car, who will assume you are a criminal. This is a humiliating and intimidating procedure.
4. Once you get over the surprise at the order and the humiliation from the service procedure, you need to make up your mind: Are you (a) a disgusting man who beats up or abuses women, or are you, like all our clients, (b) a guy in college who has no idea what led to this situation or what to do about this temporary order?
5. Either way, you need to lawyer up immediately.
6. If you are (a); someone who actually beat up or otherwise abused a woman, you need a criminal lawyer and more than likely a therapist so that you stop.
7. If you are (b); a college student suddenly caught in one of those classic, yet sad, situations where suddenly a woman you either had sex with or were thinking about hooking up with got one of these orders, you need a Title IX lawyer who can help you try to save your career.
8. For example, if the woman is lying, or if in fact she has turned you into the victim of her sexual exploitation, you might consider complaining against her. One of the few ways to do so requires you (and your lawyer, preferably) showing that this woman violated the oath she made when she swore to the Court that you were dangerous to her.
9. Once you have a lawyer that team will help you prove to the Court that this order should not become permanent because, for example, whatever happened between you and this woman was either not violent, not sexual, or both.
10. The alternative, which your legal team will also help you prove to the Court, is that the woman cannot possibly say you are a continued risk to her for any number of reasons.
The aim of a legal strategy to defeat a Protection Order under Title 42 - PA General Assembly remains to keep your good name and your good academic record as it was before you ever met this woman.
Raul Jauregui
Jauregui Law Firm
I am an attorney and I defend mostly respondents of sexual misconduct in colleges or universities. This is absolutely not my legal opinion or my legal advice, but rather, suggestions on how to protect your family’s college students in this Coronavirus national emergency. If you’re in this situation, in any way, consult a lawyer now.