By Stephen Dean
WRTV
INDIANAPOLIS — State prison inmates have started using smuggled cell phones to harass people on the outside, including victims of stalking and violent crimes such as rape, with state prison workers telling investigators from WCPO sister station WRTV they’re receiving new complaints about inmate calls every couple of weeks.
An Indianapolis family reported getting hundreds of calls at all hours of the night, as one inmate threatened to kill them and burn down their home.
“It has gotten to me. I’m more or less in fear for my life,” said the father in the family, who requested anonymity out of safety concerns.
“I’m sick of it, and I wish the justice system would do something about it! And it seems like they’re not doing a darn thing about it,” he said.
WRTV investigators reviewed the family’s phone bill, which topped 97 pages, showing pages of calls after 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. some days. The inmate had previously dated the family’s daughter, and was apparently upset that her parents were trying to stop his phone calls to the 18-year-old.
The teen’s mother said, “It’s just like we’re being beat up on, is what it feels like, and we feel like we can’t get any protection from that.”
Both parents said the inmate used many of his calls from inside his cell to manipulate and continue his control over the daughter, despite being behind bars.
“I feel like … (we’re) in danger from the time you go to sleep at night ‘til waking up in the morning. It’s not right,” said the mother, who also requested that her identity be protected.
Full story: Families, victims targeted by Indiana state prisoners with illegal phones