Editorial: Abusive phone calls reveal policy flaws

Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2002 | 9:07 a.m.

A registered sex offender is being held in the Clark County Detention Center on charges of randomly calling women in Southern California and threatening them with harm if they didn't stay on the line and indulge him as he verbalized sexual fantasies. A Clark County prosecutor says the suspect, who has spent 23 of the last 25 years behind bars for sexual offenses, made "hundreds and hundreds" of calls. He faces 19 felony counts of coercion and his bail has been set at $8 million.

What makes this story particularly disturbing is that the calls were made from the detention center. Corrections officers at the jail, while investigating another case, discovered tape recordings of the calls, allegedly made by the inmate this summer while he was awaiting trial on charges of sexually assaulting a prostitute. He was acquitted, but a rape scenario played out in one of the calls bears similarity to the sexual assault described by the prostitute. In the 19 cases resulting in charges against the suspect, women stayed on the phone because the caller would tell them he was next door and would kill them if they hung up.

The tape recordings show the need for a review of the jail's inmate phone policy. Obviously, the current policy, which allows collect calls only and identifies the calls as originating from the jail, is vulnerable to abuse. More monitoring seems like a logical first step. Inmates are entitled to privacy when meeting with their attorneys, but not when using the phones.