When a male caller asked a Bristol Township auto shop employee if she had nice feet, the woman answered yes, believing it was a prank, police said.
That is until the caller asked to suck on her toes, they said.
She hung up the phone, but an hour later the same guy called back, asked for the woman by name and, when she answered, started making sexually explicit comments, authorities allege.
She wasn't his only target, according to Pennsylvania State Police. They believe the same 35-year-old Bristol Township man made harassing and sexually explicit calls to 24 other women — all of those employees of the state and Bucks County prison systems — between November 2014 and April 1.
Suspect Carl Gaither is now facing more than two dozen counts each of misdemeanor stalking and harassment charges and tampering with records or identification for allegedly placing nearly 1,000 calls to the women. At least three of the women were called two dozen times, according to court records. He frightened some of the women when he provided personal details about them, state police said.
The investigation began after employees at State Correctional Institutes at Coal Township in Northumberland County, Camp Hill in Cumberland County and Houtzdale in Clearfield County received “numerous” phone calls from an anonymous male that were described as lewd, lascivious, unwanted and sexually explicit, according to police. The caller appeared familiar with employees and would ask for a specific woman or directly call her extension, police added.
In late January, a trace was set up at Houzdale Correctional Institute which captured the caller's phone number, which was registered to Gaither, court records note.
Gaither's ex-girlfriend also was a recipient of Gaither's calls, police said. She had been getting harassing and threatening phone calls from him since ending the relationship in 2013, they added. She eventually contacted Gaither's parole officer and he was arrested on a parole violation, police said.
While in Bucks County prison in 2013, Gaither allegedly sent the ex-girlfriend letters and tried to call her numerous times. She turned in the letters, which included explicit statements involving feet and toes, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Gaither served time in state prisons in Coal Township, Camp Hill and Houtzdale, authorities said.
In the recent investigation, state police found three correctional counselors at Houtzdale who each received at least two dozen calls from the same unknown man between November and March, the affidavit said. The caller asked for the women by their first names and made sexually explicit comments, including ones involving their feet, police said.
At Camp Hill prison, a nurse reported that a male regularly called her between December 2014 and February and made lewd and sexually explicit comments about her feet. The caller also referred to a sports team bumper sticker on her car and that he knew her husband worked at the prison, police said.
Most recently, Gaither was incarcerated in Bucks County prison from Feb. 25 to March 3 after he was arrested on burglary and related charges. After his release on bail, authorities say, he made 278 harassing and sexually explicit calls to 13 female prison employees, including nine correctional officers, between March 10 and 19. Almost all involved their feet, court records show. One woman reported the man identified himself as “John the foot guy,” the affidavit said.
Gaither was arraigned Friday before District Judge Joanne Kline and sent to Bucks County prison in lieu of 10 percent of $75,000 bail.
Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@calkins.com; Twitter: @jociavaglia
Carl!!
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