Teen Accused of Harassment in New Jersey | We Defend Minors
Your teen got accused of harassment. Someone at school - maybe another parent, maybe the school itself - filed something. You think it's overblown teenage drama. A misunderstanding that got out of hand.
It's not school discipline. It's not a meeting with the principal. New Jersey prosecutes juvenile harassment in Superior Court - the same court system that handles adult felonies. Not municipal court. Not a warning.
Welcome to Spodek Law Group. We defend minors facing harassment charges throughout New Jersey. And we understand the shock you're feeling right now - this escalated from a text message to a court summons faster than you could process it.
This article explains what your actually facing, why the "diversion" everyone mentions isn't what you think, and what your child's future looks like if you don't handle this correctly.
This Is Superior Court - Not School Discipline
Municipal courts don't have jurisdiction over juveniles in New Jersey. Every juvenile harassment case goes to Superior Court, Family Division.
N.J.S.A. 2C:33-4 defines harassment. Making communications likley to cause annoyance or alarm. Offensive touching or threats. Alarming conduct or repeated acts. For a teenager, that can be a string of text messages, an Instagram comment, a Snapchat post. Social media made everthing permanent. What dissapears on their phone already got screenshotted somewhere else.
Petty disorderly persons harassment carries up to 30 days detention. Cyber-harassment under N.J.S.A. 2C:33-4.1 is a fourth-degree crime - up to 18 months, $10,000 fine. If your teen is already on probation for anything, harrassment automatically becomes fourth degree. The classification matters more then most parents realize.
One charge can become multple. Harassment plus cyber-harassment plus stalking if the conduct crosses lines. The escalation happens faster then you'd expect. The text message your teen thought was funny creates permenant evidence that gets subpoenaed. Prosecutors have access to everthing - deleted messages, group chats, private DMs.
Your child didn't think they were committing a crime. Neither did you. But the person who filed the complaint thought otherwise - and the state agrees with them until proven otherwise. That's the reality of were you stand right now.
The Diversion Trap Everyone Falls Into
Every lawyer mentions diversion. Conditional Dismissal. Juvenile Conference Committee. Intake Services Conference. The promise is that your teen avoids a formal adjudication. Sounds good.
What they don't explain: for Conditional Dismissal, the first step is that your teen must plead guilty. Admit to the offence. On the record. Before any evidence gets examined. Before any defence gets presented. Your signing away rights before you know what there charging.
The prosecution gets an admission before offering anything in return. If your teen fails any condition of the program - a positive drug test, a missed appointment, any new charge - that guilty plea becomes a conviction. The "second chance" disapears and the admission remains.
The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act creates another trap parents don't see coming. Schools must report certain HIB violations to law enforcement. The school "handling it internally" often means a call to police. The discipline process triggers the criminal process. The principle trying to help just made things worse.
Even if your teen qualifies for diversion, admission isn't automatic. You need to negotiate. The prosecutor has to agree. The court has to approve. Without effective advocacy, eligible kids still end up with adjudications on there record.
The Record Doesn't Disappear at 18
One of the most common myths: juvenile records are expunged at 18. Parents assume the system protects minors by erasing everything when they become adults. Its a comforting thought.
It doesn't work that way. Juvenile records in New Jersey are not automatically erased. Ever. You must petition the court. You must wait. You must meet specific requirments that most families don't know exist.
For expungement: wait 3 years after discharge from supervision, remain arrest-free during that period, file a petition, wait for processing. For sealing: wait 2 years, no new convictions, petition the court. The process can take six months even when you qualify. During that entire time, the record stays visible.
Over half of colleges require applicants to disclose wether they've ever been convicted of a crime. Juvenile adjudications count. A harassment finding from 10th grade shows up when your child applies as a senior. Scholarships, military service, profesional licenses - all ask. The question doesn't go away just because your kid turned 18.
Even after expungement, evidence can remain. Social media posts get archived. News articles if the case attracted attention don't dissappear. Private background check databases that don't update properly. The legal record dissapears; the internet doesn't forget.
What Parents Should Do Right Now
Don't wait for the first court date to find a lawyer. The window for informal resolution - stationhouse adjustment, diversion without guilty plea - closes fast. By the time you recieve that summons, decisions have already been made about how this case gets handled.
Todd Spodek has defended juveniles facing harassment charges throughout New Jersey. The approach matters. Early intervention can sometimes resolve a case before formal charges are ever filed. Once charges are filed, options narrow. The work that happens before arraignment often determines the outcome.
Your teenager made a mistake. Maybe a serious one, maybe not. The charge might be overblown, or it might reflect real conduct that needs addressing. Either way, the answer isn't to assume the system will be fair. The system processes cases. Fairness requires advocacy.
What happens in the next few weeks determines whether this follows your child for years or gets resolved quickly. College applications. Background checks. Professional licensing. All of it hangs on how this gets handled now.
Spodek Law Group represents minors in harassment cases throughout New Jersey. The consultation is confidential. We'll tell you honestly what you're facing and what options exist. Call 212-300-5196. The earlier you act, the more we can do.
