The CREEP Act: Closing the “Intimacy Gap” in New York’s Protective Statutes
The CREEP Act: Closing the “Intimacy Gap” in New York’s Protective Statutes
Legislative Evolution: Addressing the “Grey Zone” of Predatory Behavior
The Ceasing Repeated, Extremely Egregious, and Predatory (CREEP) Behavior Act represents a significant legislative pivot in the management of non-domestic stalking and harassment. For law enforcement, the judiciary, and the community at large, this Act—specifically New York Senate Bill S3394A—addresses a critical “grey zone” in the penal code where predatory behavior often evades traditional harassment or stalking statutes until physical harm occurs.
The Man From The Park Behind The Girls In A Deli
This “grey zone” is essentially a jurisdictional no-man’s-land where the law has historically remained frozen. By focusing on the relationship between the parties rather than the severity of the conduct, the previous legal framework effectively signaled to predators that their behavior was permissible so long as they remained “strangers” to their targets. The CREEP Act shatters this outdated paradigm by prioritizing the victim’s right to safety over the arbitrary classification of their connection to the offender. It acknowledges that the psychological and physical toll of being hunted is not mitigated simply because the hunter is an anonymous figure from the internet or a neighbor down the hall. This evolution reflects a modern understanding of digital-age predatory patterns, where proximity is no longer a prerequisite for terror.
The Stalker Following The Women Into A Store
The Mechanism of Intervention
Currently, New York is one of only seven states that does not offer a civil path to an order of protection for victims of “stranger” or “non-intimate” stalking. Senate Bill S3394A creates a “special proceeding” in the Supreme Court, allowing victims to petition for an anti-stalking order based on a “preponderance of evidence” rather than the higher criminal standard of “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Once issued, any further violation of this civil order is treated as Criminal Contempt, providing law enforcement with a clear mandate for immediate arrest before escalation occurs.
The brilliance of this mechanism lies in its procedural agility. By utilizing the civil standard—a “preponderance of evidence”—the law lowers the barrier for entry into the protective system, recognizing that stalking is often a crime of cumulative actions rather than a single, easily provable felony. This shift transforms the protective order from a “post-crime” formality into a “pre-crime” preventative tool. When a victim can present a pattern of egregious behavior to a judge without the immediate need for a grand jury or a criminal trial, the state gains a powerful lever to de-escalate volatile situations. It essentially grants the judiciary the power to draw a “line in the sand” early on, converting what was once a series of frustratingly “non-arrestable” incidents into a singular, high-stakes legal boundary that carries the full weight of the New York penal system behind it.
Stalker Takes A Table Next To The Women In Pizzeria
Real-World Stakes: The Case of Samantha Stites
The necessity of this “intercessory” model is demonstrated by the case of Samantha Stites, whose 13-year ordeal at the hands of a non-intimate stalker became a focal point for legislative reform. Because Stites and her stalker were never in a romantic or domestic relationship, she was historically ineligible for a civil order of protection under the New York Family Court Act. The lack of early-stage legal intervention allowed the harassment to escalate into a 2025 abduction and imprisonment. The CREEP Act is specifically designed to provide a legal “tripwire” for victims in similar positions, allowing for judicial intervention during the stalking phase rather than after a violent breach.
The tragedy of the Stites case serves as a visceral reminder that the “Intimacy Gap” has a body count. For over a decade, the legal system functioned as an inadvertent accomplice by repeatedly telling a victim that her fear was legally “unactionable” because her predator was a stranger. This case illustrates the dangerous shelf-life of unchecked obsession; when the state fails to intervene in the “nuisance” stage, it almost guarantees it will eventually have to intervene in a “tragedy” stage. The CREEP Act functions as a legislative correction to this systemic failure, ensuring that the law finally recognizes that a 13-year campaign of terror is a crime, regardless of whether the perpetrator ever shared a dinner table or a bedroom with the victim. It moves the focus of the court from the history of the parties to the trajectory of the threat.
Stalker Placing Sticker Over Vehicle License Plate
Administrative Efficiency and Fiscal Impact
Beyond public safety, the CREEP Act introduces a necessary layer of administrative efficiency to the New York judicial and law enforcement systems. Currently, the state’s reactive model necessitates a heavy expenditure of resources—requiring police to respond multiple times to the same “non-criminal” incidents until an inevitable escalation occurs. This cycle creates an “administrative drag,” where manpower is spent documenting a crisis rather than preventing it. By providing a civil mechanism for intervention, the Act allows for the resolution of these threats through streamlined judicial orders, preserving crucial but limited judicial resources and reducing the long-term economic impact of complex felony trials on the community.
Stalker Following Girls On Different Day When The Police Are Called
From a purely fiscal standpoint, the current “wait-and-see” approach is a disaster. It forces local precincts to act as expensive social workers for ongoing harassment cases that they have no legal authority to end. Each “wellness check” or “incident report” that lacks the teeth of an order of protection is a sunk cost that does nothing to solve the underlying problem. By contrast, the CREEP Act creates an “off-ramp” for these cycles of escalation. A single civil proceeding in the Supreme Court is exponentially more cost-effective than a multi-year felony prosecution, a period of pretrial detention, and the subsequent costs of long-term incarceration. By investing in early judicial intervention, New York is effectively practicing “preventative maintenance” on its justice system, ensuring that high-level resources are saved for cases where harm has already occurred, rather than being wasted on predictable escalations that could have been stopped with a single court order.
Anxiety Attack After Finding Their Vehicle Vandalized.
Current Legislative Status
As of February 11, 2026, the CREEP Act passed the New York State Senate with a unanimous 59-0 vote. It was subsequently delivered to the Assembly and referred to the Judiciary Committee. The bill represents a rare point of bipartisan consensus, moving New York toward the standards already held by 43 other states that provide civil protections regardless of the relationship between the victim and the predator.
This unanimous vote is a resounding signal that the safety of New Yorkers is no longer up for partisan debate. It acknowledges that the “Intimacy Gap” was a relic of a different era, and that in 2026, the law must be as adaptive and persistent as the predators it seeks to restrain. The move to the Assembly represents the final hurdle in rectifying a decades-long oversight. By adopting these standards, New York is finally acknowledging a simple truth: the law should protect you from being followed, harassed, and terrorized by anyone, whether you know them intimately or not at all.
The Shift To Assault
Citations:
- New York State Senate, Bill S3394A (2025-2026): Official legislative text and sponsor’s memo regarding the Supreme Court “special proceeding” and the unanimous Senate floor vote. See the equivalent Assembly Bill here.
- National Institute of Justice (NIJ): “Civil Protection Orders: Legislation, Current Court Practice, and Enforcement” regarding the administrative efficiency of civil-standard orders.
- C.A. Goldberg, PLLC (2025): Legal analysis of the “Intimacy Gap” and documentation of victim testimony regarding non-domestic stalking in New York.
- The Associated Press / Regional News (2025-2026): “Thirteen Years of Silence: The Samantha Stites Stalking and Abduction Case.” Detailed reporting on the escalation of non-intimate stalking. See also the film by ABC about this story.
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Ladies a precautionary note to you – please check to be sure you’re getting into the Car Service Company Car you have ordered via app or telephone. And that is for car service and the black car and the ridesharing apps like Ubir and Lyft. If someone is bothering you ladies tell others. Men will help you and boys as well. And women will help summon the authorities.
That is sexist. Both men and women, young and old, can help you. There was a news story about a 90-something-y.o. man who beat up a mugger. Also, my uncles told me to report unusual activity to the local precinct. It could later save a life.
Umm…right.
I’d rather have a strapping young man bursting with muscles helping me than a frail old lady pushing a shopping cart.
Who you kidding? Girl, you are so full of it. You just playing PC self serving games.
Whoa…there’s my picture in the Captcha Puzzle. What the ?!?! Weird.
Anyway, umm…that was way too distracting…oh yeah…
umm…..don’t wait for a “strapping young man.” Just be happy to get help from anyone. Yell for help! You’re not trying to date someone, so anyone willing to help will do!
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So why was her picture in the puzzle again? I don’t get it.
Security. But why is my Captcha ‘777’ ? Do I win something? I was going to write something but instead now I am just baffled by all this.
Please understand — I think you are misinterpreting the law. This law is to prevent that escalation to violence. The idea is that harassment leads to violence and preventing that sequence by interrupting it with the courts can save lives later.
Harassment goes on every day. Ever hear of a crooked PI who “follows” a guy’s wife, trying to intimidate her into a better divorce settlement? Make her sound nuts if she tells people “someone’s watching me.” And getting less sleep to boot thinking she has a stalker. Oh, it is all legit they never break the law, any one of them will tell you. They know just how much they can do. The PIs hire contractors and they do the footwork. So a guy without morals knows others without morals and his buddy says “hey R—- man I know something that can help with your crappy ho wife.” And he fills him in on the PI he can call for that work and the guy R—- pays up and in four months the wife has entered into a better deal and is afraid of everything and the guy gets the kids whenever he wants basically a sweet deal because she was out of it driven mad. . Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of this. And it is just pay to play. If you know the right s—b– then you can get things done. That needs to be shut down. Right away. Don’t get me wrong. I have some of the nation’s top PIs in my own family. But they have morals. They’re also rich as hell, due to taking their work in the PD and investing it in their own fun businesses. Anyway, I am not saying a wife isn’t cheating or abusing drugs or sinning or some s***. I am just saying what I am saying. If you need to hire a PI then we know your relationship isn’t really so good.
Agreed; fair assessment.
Welcome to 1984, I mean 2026. 😐 muahahahaha
*ahem*
Actually, (presumably) Ms. Zero, You have your pic right there on your profile! hahahaha
It’s not like they had a pic of you in your grandma’s arms in 1992! hahahahaah
That would be mad spooky. But this is nothing, really. A live shot of the front of your house via your Ring cam. THAT would be spooky. But a picture you have RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW? Not a bit frightening.
This is real life. Be happy if you’re ever in a jam and any person helps you, male or female, young or old. I think too many people would not bother getting involved. It is a real risk. Someone who is out of control can do anything.
Sometimes if you’re in a jam you get jacked. I know people who got robbed stuck on the BQE. That was back in the 80s. But even now with a stolen car they can’t find out who it was. I will take help just like anyone. But know that sometimes a hand extended is outstretched to take and is not aiding you.
I am scared because I understand the very real threat of men who are not respecting women. I know it is not always a man. I get that part. Sometimes a woman can harass or even stalk another woman.
Young lady, (I presume) you leave no room at all for a man or a boy to be stalked.
Are you going to tell me that isn’t sexist against men?
I dated a girl in high school who is the “crazy ex” we all hope we never encounter. She let me know in no small ways that she was still…enamored of me after we broke up. And, she let other girlfriends know she was still…interested in me. i can say this: She did try very hard and didn’t give up. For tenacity, I give her a 10.
Back then, we didn’t have a society that cared. But then again, people like my extremely ungrounded ex-girlfriend would end up in the mental wards sooner or later. Or married, and usually divorced, with tons of money and a giant house. How? They found a guy with potential, he turns out to end up as the CEO of some company or else a Wall Street guy. Weird how that can go. Crazy like a fox. Are those women chasing guys or some sort of ego thing? It isn’t the money. They do leach and stick to you.
Luckily, I my older sister politely told her to…..* off. After their little conversation, I never had another issue. To this day my sister won’t tell any of us what she said to my ex.
OK, Hank or Joe or whatever your name is. You are comparing a “crazy” ex girlfriend to a violent stalker?
I am not comparing anyone’s experiences. Being stalked is not fun. Doesn’t matter the details. A former girlfriend showing up at the bowling alley wearing your sweater isn’t stalking or harassment. But when she follows you everywhere and does property damage, that is something else. It’s the pattern.
It’s bad enough when it’s family or your partner. But the law can help you, if it came to that. And there are laws about the workplace that make most toe the line. So that is covered.
But strangers or people you know who are not your partner? What about people online? You’re totally on your own.
His name is Joe
and he go
by the name of Hank
and that’s Hank the Crank
who needs use of
a hanky
cuz
he be
steady cranky.
Nice.
Hank is a good guy tho. I don;t mind his company on this message board.
TF TS
so you’re saying the crazy ex type is also hot, usually? A little confused and trying to look out and avoid pitfalls from your wisdom . 😉 I’ve been lucky and careful so far…
Yooo Paulie — Don’t go on this place looking for life advice. Trust your feelings. Trust your experience. If a girl is acting weird. If she is doin things you would not do yourself and can’t tolerate. Best to end it. Or keep it light.
Women are individuals so it’s not that. It’s about knowing when someone is toxic. And same for men, doing business with guys who are toxic ass***** really isn’t worth it. Ever.
Just trust yourself. You don’t need anyone’s guidance. Trust me. TO trust YOU.
Brother you said it right. As far as everything. But in particular men and business dealings. It just isn’t wort it. A scammer or even just someone who will never be happy isn’t worth your time. Unless they are A-game in your industry, and then it is worth putting up wit the BS.
Yoooooo kidddddddddd
Don’t fall for that,,,,,,,,
They get the girls to get you,,
There are girl gang members,,
fact……….
girls be banging, yes it is true
watch out for those types
they ARE violent
they WILL mess with you
just be aware of where you are
and if it is past dark be very careful
in some hoods like
PR MH WB NB and the projects up by Benjamin in Arlington. Stapleton.
Way more just bad streets.
Yes. People live there. But don’t go out after dark.
pass this law already things in this state move to slow
I think the online aspect is ignored.
The change in the law is past due.
No sane islander would oppose this.
We get more law and order. This closes a wide gap.
And the other side should also be happy. More protection for the working poor and their vital vehicles they need to get to work with. Some families are one car repair away from homelessness. They don’t need their cars messed with or parts stolen from.
And so, it is a win for everyone. Personally I think the (mostly!) men who do this (c’mon–face the stats, boys!) are beyond help and are sick. Men stalk women, mostly. Sure there are outliers cases and it is the other way around. But we all know that is the truth and the elephant in the room.
Oh. That’s the elephant in the room. If you say so. You’re a known liberal on here so seeing you go for law and order shows something. You guys are never for law and order, unless it’s your own safety. And, sure enough, here you are saying it’s “only women victims” and so you prove my point. Just sayin’…
And…Outliers? Tell that to the lady who got stalked by another female, let’s say not quite the lady. haha She is just an…outlier. To YOU.
So here is Crank playing the role of Feminism Defender, against a presumed feminist woman. Interesting. This never gets old…
You proved your point but this is good legislation, at least in theory. I’m ot sure why the sides are not coming together on this one. Really a head scratcher. I voted R but they better step up their game bc so many people will vote I if there is a good candidate like Jesse Ventura.
Is there something in this bill I am missing? For Pete’s sake, you’re going before a freaking judge. If some one is trying to pull a fast one, that is the absolute wrong venue for that. The judge will send them off to Riker’s. I say pass the law. Stalking is the symptom of a society where anything goes and law and order are forgotten.
Hank, you’re just pushing the idea that anything a lib would vote for is bad. You’re smarter than this.
Sorry dude but Jesse Ventura is not running for anything on Staten Island! He lives all the way in Wisconsin.
This is a good luck for me. I just made my account today and randomly found this comment about a different Jesse. But still good luck.
I never seen you before. Why do you pop up when there is a mention of Jesse Ventura? With the nane Jesse Treasures?
This is worth thinking about. I am not a genius so I don’t know for sure that this is a good law. But it seems worth it. Why not? Too many people are running wild.
Linda, I think the reasons to pass this are many. The reasons to reject it?
You can say it causes more “paperwork.” But that is all digital an now AI-assistants do some more.
So there is no valid excuse especially because of escalation to worse crimes in future.
So yeah. I like this law. Let a judge finally deal with a person who is using these laws to cause harm!
The Ceasing Repeated and Extremely Egregious Predatory (CREEP) Behavior Act (S.3394A/A.3226A) is currently in the following status as of late May 2026. This thing isn’t moving forward.
Senate Status: The bill has successfully passed the New York State Senate. It was passed unanimously on February 11, 2026 (59-0).
Assembly Status: The bill is currently pending in the New York State Assembly, where it remains in committee (specifically the Judiciary Committee).
The New York State legislative session is scheduled to adjourn on June 10, 2026.
Because the current two-year legislative term (2025–2026) ends this year, any bill that has not been signed into law by the end of this session will “die.” If the CREEP Act (S.3394A/A.3226A) does not pass the Assembly and reach the Governor’s desk before adjournment on June 10, it will not carry over into the next session.
To be considered again in 2027, the bill would have to be reintroduced as new legislation with a new bill number.
Recent Activity: Advocates, lawmakers (including sponsors Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas), and survivors have been actively rallying and lobbying for the Assembly to move the bill forward. A notable “CREEP Act Lobby Day” was held on May 6, 2026, to increase pressure on Assembly leadership to bring the bill to a floor vote.
I know there are already anti-Semitism laws on the books. But this helps Jews. No doubt about it.
This helps everyone.
But, yes, this is another valuable tool in the struggle against rising anti-Semitism.
[…] note: See our previous coverage of the CREEP Act: our article about the relationship requirement, an opinion about the same requirement and what it does for law enforcement, and our discussion […]
Dear Governor Hochul,
Please pass this bill. If anyone be clowning then the judge will set them straight. This law cannot be abused because the complainant goes before a lawful Judge. So no one will be dare playing around. You need evidence.
I see bad things all the to me and I know the judges are busy already but escalation is key. We need to address this.
I believe in escalation not broken windows. I see escalation all the time. The kids be getting worse as they get older. Their choices are bad then worse. Worse even still.
And steady harassment is serious. Next thing you know this is stalking. Then assault. Break-ins. First the car. Then the house. What are they after? Could be anything. Could be your jewelry. Could be just a sicko wanting control.
Please pass this law.
Thank you,
A New York State citizen
I hate to say this but to all those grown members of old clicks out here
you know who you be
get rolling and don’t let this be some fools playground
represent your hood and don’t let these sucker catch us sleeping
or else we going to see more like that
and what if it was your grandma
Yoooo kidzzzzzzz……..
Thre was just some brutal isht right here in Clove Lakes Park.
Don’t let yourself be a victim.
They caught the brutes but they didn’t even report on this yet.