| Can brother and sister business partners who | | | | knowingly or recklessly causing bodily |
| do not reside in the same home, and who have | | | | injury, serious bodily injury, rape, |
| no relationship outside of work, seek | | | | involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, |
| Protection From Abuse orders against each | | | | sexual assault, statutory sexual assault, |
| other? | | | | aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault |
| | | | or incest with or without a deadly weapon; |
| An en banc panel of the Superior Court has | | | | (2) Placing another in reasonable fear of |
| inexplicably answered "yes" in Custer v. | | | | imminent serious bodily injury; |
| Cochran, PICS Case No. 07-1501 (Pa. Super. | | | | |
| Sept. 25, 2007) Todd, J., Ford Elliott, P.J. | | | | (3) The infliction of false imprisonment; |
| concurring (23 pages), thereby overruling an | | | | |
| identical 1996 case, which was dismissed for | | | | (4) Physically or sexually abusing minor |
| lack of jurisdiction. | | | | children; |
| | | | |
| The Protection From Abuse Act is designed to | | | | (5) Knowingly engaging in a course of conduct |
| provide family or household members with a | | | | or repeatedly committing acts toward another |
| tool to secure court protection from acts of | | | | person, including following the person, |
| domestic abuse. Section 6102 of the law | | | | without proper authority, under circumstances |
| provides the two key definitions at issue in | | | | which place the person in reasonable fear of |
| Custer: | | | | bodily injury ..." |
| | | | |
| Under the statute, "abuse" is defined as: | | | | Section 6102 further defines "family or |
| | | | household members" as "[s]pouses or persons |
| "The occurrence of one or more of the | | | | who have been spouses, persons living as |
| following acts between family or household | | | | spouses or who have lived as spouses, parents |
| members, sexual or intimate partners or | | | | and children, other persons related by |
| persons who share biological parenthood: | | | | consanguinity or affinity, current or former |
| | | | sexual or intimate partners or persons who |
| (1) Attempting to cause or intentionally, | | | | share biological parenthood. |