I will be introducing you to stalking from the State and Federal perspective and the penalties that are involved for committing this crime.
Stalking is a crime of terror with a beginning, but seemingly no end. It's a crime of fear that leaves no physical cuts or bruises at least not unless the stalker becomes desperate and acts out in violence, which is often the case.

According to a nineteen hundred and ninety three and nineteen ninety four U.S. Department of Justice study, women are the victims in ninety percent of the cases nationwide and one in twenty of them will be stalked sometime in their life.( National Center for Victims of Crime )Thirty eight percent of stalking victims are single women between twenty and forty five years old, but teens and older people can be targets too. More and more of them are being caught up in terrifying web of obsession, a terrifying pursuit of the victim. (National Center for Victims of Crime)

The difference between harassment and stalking is a distinction of the law. Stalking occurs when harassing behavior is repeated, is threatening, is purposefully directed at a specific person, and would cause a reasonable person to fear bodily injury or death for themselves or a family member(AARDVARC) Sometimes, it's just surveillance; everyplace you go, the stalker is there. Without a doubt it's emotional terrorism. The victim can't get away. Then there are telephone calls twenty to fifty a day, notes on the windshield, or they're in the grocery store when you are, then they show up at an event fifty miles away. (AARDVARC)

That's what's so frightening. How can this person know what your schedule is, where you're going? But they do. Stalkers may break into their victim's house, read their mail, listen to their answering machine or move things around, just to let them know they've been there. (AARDVARC)

Many people think this could only happen to celebrities. In fact it was the California stalker murder of actress Rebecca Schaffer of the television series "My Sister Sam," that prompted the nation's first anti-stalking law in hundred and ninety. Celebrities Jodie Foster, David Letterman and Madonna have suffered from stalking. But studies show that more than eighty percent of victims are "ordinary" people. (The National Center for Victims of Crime)

Stalkers fall into two categories of motivation according to forensic psychologists: love obsession and simple obsession. People who stalk celebrities fall into the first category. Although they have no relationship with their target, they are convinced that they can make the celebrity love them. When their victim doesn't "follow the script," they may use threats, intimidation or violence to make their obsession "come true." They can also become obsessed with a stranger or casual acquaintance. The National Center for Victims of Crime)

Most stalking targets, about seventy five percent, have some previous personal relationship with the stalker. This is the simple obsession and can be the most dangerous. This type stalker may or may not have a psychological disorder, but all have been found to have personality disorders, according to the FBI Center for Crime Analysis. (The National Center for Victims of Crime) They are generally above average in intelligence, but are socially maladjusted, emotionally immature and suffer from feelings of powerlessness, jealousy and low self-esteem, FBI studies show. They use their controlling relationship to feel more powerful. (The National Center for Victims of Crime)

The most common harassment or stalker cases dealt with are those of simple obsession: a relationship or marriage goes sour and the jilted person is unable to accept it. The personality problems are what can make this type of stalker dangerous, especially if there is a history of domestic abuse. The reason they are so dangerous is that they stalk out of anger, hurt and revenge. They may be looking for a way to justify their rage. The simple obsessive stalker is likely to develop the idea, "If I can't have you, then nobody else will either.

Stalkers come from every social-economic and educational background. There have been professionals found guilty of stalking, as well as laborers and those of middle incomes and educations.( AARDVARC) The common denominator is the fear they inspire. That fear is often justified, especially if it comes at the end of a relationship. Statistically, most homicide victims know their perpetrator. (AARDVARC) While every state has different specific language defining stalking, there are five main parts of most stalking statutes that must be met in order for law enforcement to treat a case as a stalking case. (AARDVARC)Those elements include: A willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment of another individual that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, 'harassed' or molested and that actually causes the victim to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed or molested. (AARDVARC)
Stalking can go hand in hand with other crimes as well. It's often accompanied by crimes such as trespass, assault, criminal mischief, loitering prowling, and vandalism. (The National Center for Victims of Crime) Stalking can be a crime in and of itself and doesn't require that the stalker and the victim have some level of a relationship or even know each other at all. (The National Center for Victims of Crime)

In many cases, a person is stalked by someone they've had a relationship with especially when the relationship is ending and one partner can't accept it. They might stalk you to see if you're seeing someone else, stalk you to find an opportunity to take the kids or commit an act of violence against you, or just to pressure and harass you. (The National Center for Victims of Crime)

Other stalkers might be total strangers someone who sees you in a grocery store, for example, and who has serious problems in having healthy relationships. Rather than approaching you and saying "hi, I'm so-and-so" and striking up conversation to get to know you, these types of stalkers might instead follow you from afar, possibly having a type of fantasy relationship with you.( The National Center for Victims of Crime)

Both of these are dangerous! Don't assume that just because a stalker hasn't ever done anything violent toward you that they're not planning to. (The National Center for Victims of Crime)
A little over one million women and three hundred and seventy thousand men are stalked annually in the United States. One in twelve women and one in forty five men will be stalked in their lifetime, seventy seven percent of female and sixty four percent of male victims know their stalker. (The National Center for Victims of Crime) Eighty seven percent of stalkers are men fifty nine percent of female victims and thirty percent of male partners are stalked by an intimate partner.

Eighty one percent of women stalked by a current or former intimate partner are also physically assaulted by that partner. Thirty one percent of women stalked by a current or former intimate partner are also sexually assaulted by that partner. Intimate partners that stalk are four times more likely than intimate partners in the general population to physically assault their victims and six times more likely to sexually assault their victims. (The National Center for Victims of Crime) Seventy three percent of intimate partner stalkers verbally threaten the victims with physical violence, and almost forty six percent of victims experienced one or more violent incidents by the stalker. (The National Center for Victims of Crime) The average duration of stalking is one point eight years. If stalking involves intimate partners, the average duration increases to two point two years. Sixty one percent of stalkers made unwanted phone calls; thirty three percent sent or left. Twenty nine percent vandalized property; and nine percent killed or threatened to kill a family pet. (The National Center for Victims of Crime)

Twenty eight percent of female victims and ten percent of male victims obtained a protective order. Sixty nine percent of female victims and eighty one percent of male victims had the protection order violated. (The National Center for Victims of Crime) Fifty six percent of women stalked took some type of self-protective measure; Eleven percent included extreme measures such as relocating. Twenty six percent of stalking victims lost time from work as a result of their victimization, and seven percent never returned to work. Thirty percent of female victims and twenty percent of male victims sought psychological counseling. (The National Center for Victims of Crime)

In Oregon you may be charged with the crime of stalking under Oregon law if you knowingly alarm or coerce someone or a member of someone’s family by engaging in repeated and unwanted contact and the conduct causes the alleged victim reasonable fear regarding their safety or the safety of someone in their family or household. (Oregon Department of Justice) In most circumstances, stalking is a Class A misdemeanor. Class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to one year in jail and fines reaching up to six thousand two hundred and fifty dollars. However, if the offense is committed and you have a prior stalking conviction on your record or a protection order violation conviction on your record, you will face Class C felony charges. This charge carries a potential prison term of five years and fines reaching up to one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars.( Oregon Department of Justice) Similar to threatening, menacing involves putting someone in fear of imminent physical injury. This is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and fines reaching six thousand and two hundred and fifty dollars. Harassment is typically a Class B misdemeanor which carries a potential sentence of six months in jail and fines reaching twenty five hundred dollars. (Oregon Department of Justice)

Oregon Stalking Laws & Penalties are Ref: Or. Rev. Stat. §163.732 Menacing Laws & Penalties Ref: Or. Rev. Stat. §163.90
The federal penalties for Stalking 18 USCS § 2261A Stalking (2006), (stalking laws/Federal Stalking Laws) partner, shall be punished as provided in subsection.
(b) Penalties. A person who violates this section or section 2261A [18 USCS § 2261A] shall be fined under this title, imprisoned-
(1) for life or any term of years, if death of the victim results;
(2) for not more than 20 years if permanent disfigurement or life threatening bodily injury to the victim results;
(3) for not more than 10 years, if serious bodily injury to the victim results or if the offender uses a dangerous weapon during the offense;
(4) as provided for the applicable conduct under chapter 109A [18 USCS §§ 2241 et seq.] if the offense would constitute an offense under chapter 109A [18 USCS §§ 2241 et seq.] (without regard to whether the offense was committed in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or in a Federal prison); and
(5) for not more than 5 years, in any other case, or both fined and imprisoned.
(6) Whoever commits the crime of stalking in violation of a temporary or permanent civil or criminal injunction, restraining order, no-contact order, or other order described in section 2266 of title 18, United States Code, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than 1 year.( stalking laws/Federal Stalking Laws)

18 USCS § 2262 Interstate violation of protection order (2006)( stalking laws/Federal Stalking Laws)
Penalties A person who violates this section shall be fined under this title, imprisoned-
(1) for life or any term of years, if death of the victim results;
(2) for not more than 20 years if permanent disfigurement or life threatening bodily injury to the victim results;
(3) for not more than 10 years, if serious bodily injury to the victim results or if the offender uses a dangerous weapon during the offense;
(4) as provided for the applicable conduct under chapter 109A [18 USCS §§ 2241 et seq.] if the offense would constitute an offense under chapter 109A (without regard to whether the offense was committed in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or in a Federal prison); and
(5) for not more than 5 years, in any other case, or both fined and imprisoned. (stalking laws/Federal Stalking Laws)

In closing The National Domestic Violence Hotline: This is a twenty four hour, confidential, toll-free hotline. Hotline staff connects the caller to a local service provider. (FVPSA program) Trained advocates provide support, information, referrals, safety planning, and crisis intervention in more than one hundred and seventy languages to hundreds of thousands of domestic violence victims each year. (FVPSA program) The Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancements and Leadership Through Alliances (DELTA) Program: Like many public health problems, intimate partner violence is not simply an individual problem it is a community problem. DELTA supports local programs that teach people ways to prevent violence. (FVPSA program)