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