My name is Melanie Johnson, Mother of 3, resident of Mecklenburg County, and one of the newest Domestic Violence victims in this country that continues to be victimized by the laws that are supposed to be written to protect them. Not so much in my case, I have been entangled in a battle with not only my Abuser for the last 2 years, but the criminal justice system as a whole. The way that the current Domestic Violence and Stalking laws are written in the state of North Carolina, it creates an exhausting, frightful, painstaking uphill battle. It is my wish that these laws be revamped to offer more protection for other victims like me. Because of those laws, my Abuser who has taken me and my ENTIRE family through emotional and financial turmoil has been granted a bond by a Mecklenburg County Magistrate and this should definitely have not been the case. Not just in my case, but the thousands of other Domestic Violence victims that finally conjure up the courage to take a stand and take control of their lives; only to be subjected to the continuous harassment, emotional pain, physical violence, and in the most sadden and worst scenarios….DEATH! BACKGROUND: My Abuser has threatened to rape me, kill me, and burn my house down with my dead body still inside. My Abuser has been allowed to continuously harass me by telephone and email, not only my personal home and phone but my place of employment as well. He’s showed up across the street from my job on numerous occasions, called my job more than 130 times and emailed me relentlessly. It had gotten so bad, I had to change my personal cell number, request an extension change at work, contact the IT department to block ALL known email addresses for my Abuser, and most importantly uproot my ENTIRE family and move 30 miles away from their home, just to try to escape him. My Abuser has posted detrimental things about me on various websites, including but not limited to pornographic websites; all while telling the world who I am, where I live, and where I work. I have been contacted by perfect strangers verbalizing sexual innuendos from various parts of the country. My Abuser, has continuously stalked me via the internet, by making various fake social media accounts, stalked my friends’ social media pages, boldly commenting on any pictures that we may have taken together. My Abuser has attempted to hack all of my social media pages, a documented 400+ times in a continued attempt to torment, and ruin my life, all because I took back my power and discontinued my relationship with him. After numerous court appearances, attempts to obtain orders of protection and several police report filings I was able to convince someone to listen to my story and have compassion for me and my family. Four warrants were issued for his arrest, 2 for Harassing phone calls, 1 for Stalking, and 1 for Cyber-Stalking. My order of protection was finally granted by an amazing judge, after he managed to duck & dodge officers, and taunt the detective that was working my case. Finally my Abuser was finally arrested, miraculously I could breathe a breath of fresh air, finally have some type of peace, something that I have been yearning for for the last 2 years. That pleasure was short lived, not 3 hours later, I was alerted that he had been granted bond on all 4 warrants that totaled $2000, that’s right, because of magistrate guidelines regarding bond issuance, they were not able to hold him on a no bond, domestic violence order. So for as little as $250, my Abuser will be allowed to live up to his promise to rape me, kill me, and burn down my house with my dead body inside. This SHOULD NOT be allowed to continue to happen. OBJECTIVES: I plan to work with legislature to assist in: · Inducting a National Domestic Violence Registry, similar to the National Sex Offender Registry. With the increase in internet dating and social networking, Domestic Violence offenders should be forced to register upon conviction. Other victims need to be on guard before they find themselves in an unwanted relationship with an Abuser who uses the World Wide Web to prey upon victims. · Rewriting existing bond guidelines that are in place for Domestic Violence cases. The magistrate should be able to look at the seriousness of the charges, listen to some facts of the case that is presented in front of them to determine whether bond should be issued in ALL domestic violence cases, regardless of whether there have been any previous documented domestic violence incidents between the Abuser and the Victim. · Revamp the process to obtain an Order of Protection to be more of a streamlined process. No victim should have to make numerous trips to the courthouse and magistrates office in order to seek some type of assistance in a volatile situation. · Increase the sentencing guidelines to allow judges to look at the case individually and hand out sentences that fit the individual crime. As it is right now, there is a chart that determines the sentence based on the number of previous charges and convictions. This should not be the case; one incident to many could result in death. · Allow electronic transmission of Ex Parta Orders of Protection be considered a legal form of service. Right now, the Sheriff has to actually hand deliver the order commenced against the Abuser, the Abuser maintains all control in the situation by avoiding being served. This results in continuances and potentially dismissal of your order. Please partner with me to bring about the necessary changes that put the victims first in these types of situations. When fighting this process alone, victims need to know that they are not fighting by themselves. The World is Watching!!