The penalties for violating a Protection From Abuse order in Pennsylvania can vary. A Protection From Abuse order is a civil order. At a minimum, if a person is accused of violating the PFA order, the person can potentially be held to be in contempt of that order, civil contempt, meaning in part that they willfully disobeyed the order. If a person were to be found to be in civil contempt of a PFA order, they could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. A person can also be charged criminally for violating a PFA order. The charge would be indirect criminal contempt of the order as a criminal case. A PFA case, although not criminal in nature, can definitely have implications. A defendant can wind up being charged, both related to the PFA allegations themselves as a criminal case. Then also, if they're accused of violating the PFA, they could be charged with indirect criminal contempt, which would be a separate case.
Having an experienced PFA attorney will be your best ally to help you understand and navigate the PFA process. They should be involved from as early as possible in the case.
