united-states civil-law
Could any repercussion from a libel suit prevent or limit someone from perpetuating other attacks on others?
<p>A certain evil man has previously waged a vicious campaign of cyber-bullying and libel against me, and appears to be revving up for a whole new round in the near future.  His claims include accusing me of being a different individual, multiple claims of mental illness of various types, pretending to be a women I supposedly harassed to upset a third party, and accusing me of being a pedophile because I'm a male that volunteers with children (which everyone knows is synonymous with pedophile!); amongst other actions.</p>

<p>I've always ignored these attacks, others then posting requests to have them removed from any third party site he made them on.  They were quite upsetting, but the difficulty of doing anything about them is quite high.</p>

<p>However, he is actually doing far worse to others then what he is doing to me.  His cyber-bullying is quite common, but the least of his actions.  He has had multiple rape allegations made against him; I can't get either of the ones I know personally to press charges.  He is involved in many other bad actions, using anonymity of the internet, threat of <em>vicious</em> attacks on any that oppose him, a sociopathic (and I mean that literally here) ability to manipulate others, and a talent for knowing exactly how much he can break rules and laws without every pushing enough to make it worth anyone prosecuting him.</p>

<p>My own ability to prove libel is difficult at best, due to the indirect nature of most of the attacks and difficulty of tying his real name (known to me) to his aliases to a degree required to be legally admissible.  It is simply not worth the significant expense, time, emotional investment, and <em>increased</em> harassment that would inevitable come from any lawsuit just to try to prove libel myself.</p>

<p>However, I would like to stop him from the far more massive harm he is doing to others.  Assuming I could even generate a sufficient case for libel is there any way that the results of winning a case proving libel/slander/cyber-bullying etc could lead to repercussions other then his being forced to pay me money, something that may in some way slow down or limit the harm he is doing to other parties?  Or is the only possible repercussion financial penalty, which I would value far less then the harm of the case and I doubt would stop him from continuing his activities.</p>

<p>I live in Maryland, the individual harassing me is in West Virginia, with all the harassment being done over the internet; to make things even harder.</p>

<p>You are seeking criminal penalties through the civil law system, which does not happen (and for good reason).  If you want criminal penalties, You need to pursue harassment, rape, or other criminal law penalties through the criminal law system.  People can also be "scared straight" just by an encounter with a police officer for their activities, although some people increase their attacks.</p>
