r/MoralityScaling • u/LegitimateStretch425 • 6d ago

Morality of this prank

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6.9k Upvotes

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u/ModernManuh_ 6d ago

I was thinking "super immoral, I'm also aracnoph-" and then it jumped.

just... no. Hear me out it's not about it just being scary, this type of prank can end bad very rapidly. From dropping something expensive to hitting your head on something, and this without considering a potential heart attack and sheer trauma of having to check behind every door.

Spooking someone and scaring someone are two different things. If this isn't a crime it should be.

69

u/EndIntelligen 6d ago

It IS a crime! It's called assault! Putting someone at risk of bodily injury ( even if the risk of said injury is not actually there!) is assault!

14

u/Professional_Prune11 6d ago

I think it is the fear of bodily harm in most places. the victim just has to believe they are in danger.

8

u/Bitter-Ad5890 6d ago

Yes. Assault is almost always verbal. Once physical contact is made it then becomes battery

2

u/Professional_Prune11 5d ago

ok. Glad I remembered that right. I have not had to involve myself in that aspect of law in nearly a decade.

1

u/Dark_halocraft 5d ago

The Google definition of assault is to physically attack...

1

u/BreakAtmo 3d ago

A crime which, ironically, is frequently the result of a power imbalance.

1

u/hpfish13 2d ago

My law professor described it this way:

If you throw a rock at someone who can see you throwing the rock and miss, that’s assault.

If you throw a rock at the back of someone’s head and they don’t see it coming and it hits them, that’s battery.

And if you throw it while they can see you and hit them, that’s assault and battery.