Friday, August 15, 2003
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Friday, August 15, 2003 |
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Man charged with making obscene calls gets phone restriction as part of his bond By JOHN
MUNFORD
A south Fayette man accused of making lewd phone calls to women was granted a $70,000 bond Wednesday on the condition that he replace his telephone with one that can only be used to dial 911. Magistrate Bob A. Ruppenthal said he would have preferred to deny bond to Jeffrey David Allen, but the law requires him to set a bond because the charges are misdemeanors. Allen, 38, is also forbidden from having a cellular phone with an outgoing line, Ruppenthal added. Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department said Allen made over 1,600 phone calls from his home in one month, while the household average is between 100 and 150. "Mr. Allen has admitted to me and my investigators that he has a problem and he cannot control his problem," Jordan said. So far, Allen is only accused of six counts of making an obscene phone call and one count of making a harassing phone call. Jordan said he expected that to change as more victims come forward and as his detectives call back the phone numbers Allen had called. When Allen made the obscene phone calls, he would either hang up or claim he thought he was talking to another woman, Jordan said. Jordan said Allen is on probation from Decatur County, Georgia for child molestation and he could possibly have to serve the remainder of a 20-year prison sentence for that charge. "Mr. Allen is somebody we feel fell through the cracks in the system," Jordan said. Ruppenthal also set a 6 p.m. curfew on Allen in addition to the phone restriction. Jordan asked for the curfew to keep Allen from leaving his home on Old Greenville Road to use a pay phone to make more obscene calls. The judge said he wanted Allen to be able to call 911 in case an emergency occurred with his two children, whom Allen has full custody of. Jordan also argued that Allen could move out of state to a condo in Florida owned by his mother to avoid prosecution. Allen said he would stay here to face the charges. Jordan said he has been investigating Allen for 15 years on a variety of charges ranging from stalking to prowling to peeping tom and public indecency. But the victims always declined to come forward making it impossible to file charges, Jordan said.
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