Malicious Caller Gets 22 Months

Wed., March 22, 2000

From Wire

A man who terrorized women on college campuses by telephoning them with threats of rape and murder was sentenced to 22 months in prison Tuesday.

Sean Robert Francis, 21, was accused of making more than 75 such calls from his home in Middletown to women at Montana State University in Bozeman; the University of Nebraska in Lincoln; the University of Kansas in Lawrence; North Dakota State in Fargo; and Oregon State in Corvallis.

Pullman and Washington State University police officials believe Francis is also responsible for calls to at least two dozen WSU women.

In November, police and FBI authorities said Francis is under investigation for similar calls in college towns other than just those in the five states listed in the federal criminal complaint. There was no evidence that Francis took steps to carry out the threats.

“This was about the most frightening kind of phone call a college woman can get,” said U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon. “This was not childish behavior. This was not prank behavior.”

One woman, convinced the caller was inside her residence, was so scared she jumped from her second-story window and injured her ankles. A dormitory director at the University of Kansas said, “It was not the typical heavy breathing, `What are you wearing?’ It was, `Here’s what I’m going to do to you.”’ Francis pleaded guilty in December to eight counts of making threatening interstate calls.

“I realize that my actions were wrong and I am very sorry,” he told the judge Tuesday. “This is not the way I want to live my life. I want this to end.”

In addition to the 22 months in prison, the judge imposed three years on probation and ordered treatment for alcohol abuse. She recommended psychological treatment, as well.

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