From the Associated Press: An Orange County man has been charged after police say he was stalking and intimidating a couple because he was not chosen as a school’s basketball coach and fourth-grade teacher.
40-year-old Travis Tarrants faces two felony charges of stalking, two felony charges of intimidation and two felony charges of criminal mischief in the case. Court documents state that Tarrants began harassing a man because he was chosen over Tarrants for a fourth grade teaching position and basketball coaching position at the Springs Valley School Corporation in French Lick.
Investigators believe that Tarrants placed four phone calls to the Department of Child Services, making claims that the victim was engaged in a sexual relationship with an underage student and that he was sexually abusing his fiancee’s daughter.
Tarrants is also accused of placing packages of dead animals in the mail, including four skunks and a raccoon. One of the packages was listed as being sent from the man’s fiancee and was mailed to the Seymour School District Administration building.
Two more packages were intercepted by the Indianapolis Post Office. One was listed as being sent from Medora High School’s athletic director and the other from Brownstown High School’s basketball coach. Both were sent to the victim at Medora High School.
Another package was intercepted at the Jasper Post Office. It contained a dead raccoon and was sent to the post office box for the Medora school. His fiancee was again listed as the sender and also contained a message that said “RESIGN! IT WILL NOT STOP.”
In an interview with investigators, the girlfriend of Tarrants said that he had trapped five to seven live skunks in late spring. She said she thought it was odd that he had kept them alive for several days.
