Regarding your wanting to take legal action against him for what you described as sexual harassment: in general, allegations of sexual harassment are treated as employment law issues. And if you think about it, your expectations of protection in the context of social networks (where you do not have to be at all) or some messaging apps or whatever the platforms and environments are where you interacted with this character should not be on par with the expectations of protection in the context of employment relationship.

Imagine that you are at work, that your livelihood depends on your employment, that you have invested time and effort in learning job skills specific to that employment (this is not necessary but I am intensifying the hypothetical), that you are the sole caregiver of an aging parent (again, not necessary but to intensify)... and somebody at work has created what is called "hostile work environment" for you. Hostile work environment is one type of sexual harassment. The other main type is quid pro quo when sexual favors are demanded in exchange for a promotion or other job-related benefit or simply to keep a job.

So as an employee, you are essentially captive on the job. You also should not have to look for another job to escape being harassed. So, for these situations, the law protects you. The law is there to help create an environment free of harassment so that you can fulfill your job duties, apply your skills, have professional relationships with the manager and coworkers, advance on the career ladder, etc., all free of harassment. The legal regime aims to assure that harassment would not interfere with your employment, earning your livelihood, and professional growth etc.

I think if you consider that you are not captive on a social network, you do not earn your livelihood on it for yourself and for the people dependent on your for sustenance and care, you will see that society has less of a duty to protect you on social networks than it does when you are on the job.

Things might be changing, but for now, a quick google search for whether there can be a claim for sexual harassment committed online returns results that state that yes, in the context of EMPLOYMENT relationships, sexual harassment can and does occur online nowadays, and unwelcome text messages, social network posts etc. are actionable. But the operative term here is EMPLOYMENT.

Here are a few quotes (omitting source but you can find them yourself by plugging the quotes into google):

"A group of coworkers can also make a blog article or a website to annoy other colleagues. Whenever a company, manager, employee, or teammate uses social media sites like Facebook or Twitter to send unpleasant remarks or texts to another coworker, this is known as virtual harassment."


"Under federal law, sexual harassment in the workplace, including online harassment, is prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964."

"The guidance states that employee conduct on social media platforms can contribute to a hostile work environment that violates Title VII."


So this is what it is for now, and maybe coming to realize that you are not protected the way you expected to be will convince you to be much more careful.