Man jailed for stalking and harassing Fever star Caitlin Clark
Michael Lewis, a native of Denton, Texas, was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The sentence includes credit for time served at the Marion County Adult Detention Center since he was arrested at an Indianapolis hotel in January and charged with felony stalking after allegedly sending repeated threats and sexually violent messages to Clark via social media.
According to his sentence, Lewis must also stay away from Clark and from Fever or Indiana Pacers games and cannot use the internet during his sentence.
The judge also recommended mental health treatment for Lewis, who was continually disruptive at Monday's hearing, including saying of Clark "I want her to be safe" and prophesizing about the end of the world, per WTHR.
Lewis was arrested in January after authorities were able to track the IP address of his threatening messages via X to a hotel in Indianapolis. He continued to send messages to Clark even after the police visited the hotel to address the previous messages, which he either denied or referred to as "an imaginary relationship."
Clark told police she did not know Lewis and did not respond to any of the messages from Lewis.
"This resolution ensures that the defendant is held accountable for his threatening actions, the fear he instilled, and the disruption he caused," Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said Monday. "He will now spend the next two and a half years in the Department of Correction, and the victim will be able to have peace of mind while focusing on what matters to her."
Clark also reportedly told police she feared for her life to the point where she altered her appearance in public.
"I hope everyone focuses on the fact that there is a real victim here," Mears said. "There is a 22-year-old young person here who has been profoundly impacted by what is being said. I think, hopefully, (this case) also highlights there are consequences to what people say online. You have someone who is now looking over their shoulder, because they don't know, 'Is this going to be the day or the time when I have to encounter this person in person?'"
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NHK
7 hours ago
- NHK
Japanese suspect in knife attack wrote 'someone is watching me' in notebooks
Investigative sources have told NHK that a 48-year-old man who was arrested following a knife attack northeast of Tokyo on Monday wrote "someone is watching me" in his notebooks. Shiobara Hirokazu was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly slashing pedestrians on the street of Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture. Six people were injured, some of them seriously. He was sent to prosecutors on Wednesday. Police say the suspect's face was covered and he had two knives strapped to his waist. He is believed to have attacked people with two 50-centimeter knives he was holding in his hands. The suspect reportedly told police that he slashed those who tried to stop him attacking people. On Tuesday, police searched a condominium where the suspect lives, adjacent to the crime scene. Investigative sources say police confiscated dozens of notebooks in which complaints and worries about daily life were written, apparently by the suspect. Police say some of them contain the phrase "someone is watching me." Police intend to analyze the notebooks to see if they are related to the case.
Japan Times
a day ago
- Japan Times
Senior 'JP Dragon' crime ring member jailed for 42 months
The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday sentenced a senior member of the "JP Dragon" crime ring based in the Philippines to three years and six months in prison for fraud. Tomohiro Koyama, 51, is believed to be the third-highest-ranking member of the ring comprising Japanese nationals. He is a former member of another crime group led by Yuki Watanabe, 41, whose members used the pseudonym "Luffy." Watanabe has been charged with robbery resulting in death. Koyama was detained by Philippine authorities and extradited to Japan in November 2024. Presiding Judge Yasushi Fuke said that Koyama's actions were "part of an organized and professional crime and very malicious." "He played an important role so that the whole organization could carry out crimes efficiently," the judge said, noting that Koyama managed ring members as a leader of a team tasked with making scam phone calls to victims. "It must be said that the criminal responsibility is heavy." Fuke deemed a prison sentence of three years and six months appropriate, citing Koyama's remorse and full compensation to the victim. Prosecutors had sought a five-year prison term. According to the indictment, Koyama conspired with Watanabe and others in April 2019 to steal eight bank cards from a fraud victim in her 50s in Tokyo and withdraw approximately ¥700,000.
NHK
a day ago
- NHK
Ukrainian child abductions are Russian 'war crime'
Nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been taken to Russia since the 2022 invasion, in what Ukraine calls a war crime and Russia claims is a rescue operation. We spoke with one teenager about his abduction, indoctrination and eventual escape. The question remains, what can be done to bring the rest home?
