A bill aimed at expanding state law regarding harassment to include electronic stalking conducted through text messages, e-mail and social networking sites passed out of conference committee yesterday and will go before the House and Senate this week for final votes.

Senate and House conferees agreed on a version of the bill, which began in the House as two separate pieces of legislation. The bill would amend the current harassment statute to add electronic communication to the definitions of harassment and stalking. It is expected to pass this week. State Rep. Jon Riki Karamatsu, D-41st (Waipahu, Village Park, Waikele), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and author of the bill, said he began considering the legislation after hearing complaints from several constituents and a friend.

He also remembers a former Capitol worker who was harassed by a man who created faux images of her in lingerie and sent them to all legislative offices.

"These types of acts are so cowardly. At least in the old school, you knew who was harassing you," Karamatsu said after the conference committee meeting yesterday. "Computers are used for good and bad. In the worst cases, people are put at the mercy of sexual predators or other online stalkers."

Under current law, harassment is a petty misdemeanor and harassment by stalking is a misdemeanor. Aggravated harassment is a class C felony, but to be convicted a perpetrator has to have been previously convicted of harassment within five years of a second offense.

Honolulu police and city prosecutors are backing the bill and say that it is needed to keep up with criminal acts that are evolving with new technology.

"We believe the advancement of technology has caused the present statute to be outdated," Honolulu police Capt. Jerald Wojcik said in testimony submitted to a Senate committee. "This bill, including the amendments, updates the law to prevent harassment via these new and innovative technologies."