Toni-Lee Sangastiano speaks during a ceremony Tuesday where Gov. Peter Shumlin, right, signed an update to the anti-stalking law. Photo by Sarah Olsen/VTDigger
As the governor marked the signing of an updated anti-stalking bill Tuesday, the woman who had been an anonymous driving force behind the legislation went public.
Toni-Lee Sangastiano said she felt relieved when she announced herself as a survivor during the Statehouse ceremony. Sangastiano said she has been dealing with her case for about a decade as a target of stalking, but can’t discuss any details because it is an ongoing investigation.
Sangastiano had come forward previously to tell her story anonymously and is credited with helping to write the bill. Gov. Peter Shumlin thanked her for her courage and handed her the pen after ceremonially putting his name to the legislation, which he had actually signed early this month.
The law also increases the penalties for assaulting a state social worker.
When Sangastiano first filed for a civil protection order about a decade ago, she was not granted one, she said.
“I never thought there would be any obstacles, so I was disappointed,” she said. “There were times when I lost hope in the system altogether, but this last year has given me hope again.”
Sangastiano said she feels relieved after going public but still feels as though her situation is surreal. “I never would have imagined myself in this position,” she said.
The new law, which was S.154, will update the current “archaic language” in the Vermont statutes on stalking, said Rep. Maxine Grad, D-Moretown.
The old stalking laws did not account for modern technology, Shumlin said. This new one has the broad and well-defined language to fix that, Grad said.
S.154 states that no “overt threat” is required for a victim to be granted a protection order and redefines a stalker’s “course of conduct” to two or more acts over a period of time in which a person follows, monitors, surveils or threatens and includes acts that are made by any method or device.
Along with Grad, Rep. Kesha Ram, D-Burlington, was a sponsor of a House bill that became part of S.154. Ram said the law will update language from the 19th century.
“What is needed now is a culture change,” Ram said.
Ram said she has worked with the group Women Helping Battered Women for many years and knows this change will help.
Grad said more work remains to be done. She would like to work on better protecting minors from stalking, she said. S.154 allows minors to file for a stalking or sexual assault protection order at the age of 16, according to the bill summary.
The law will go into effect July 1.
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