GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A Green Bay man has been sentenced for making threatening and obscene phone calls to daycare centers in other states.
46-year-old Michael Propst was sentenced to seven years in federal prison, which is two and a half times longer than the recommended federal sentencing guideline.
Propst called two different daycare centers in Indiana, claiming he was raping and harming one of their pupils, according to court documents.
Daycare workers then quickly did a head-count of children and called authorities.
Individuals at the Green Bay office of the FBI became involved and learned a federal investigation was underway into Propst in Delaware.
Investigators say Propst was also linked to similar threatening calls in fifteen other states, spanning from Maine to California.
Over the course of 20 years, prosecutors say Propst made threatening phone calls to schools, daycare centers, and retail establishments, depicting the violent rape of young children.
Propst’s job as a long-haul trucker made it practically impossible for local authorities to investigate his threatening calls, given that he and his phone were constantly moving through different legal jurisdictions, according to investigators.
Propst was previously convicted in the state of Florida in 1999 for making similar obscene and threatening phone calls and in 2002, he was sentenced to 41 months in prison.
The calls only stopped while Propst was incarcerated, according to prosecutors.
The judge described Propst’s actions as far more serious than just harassment, calling it akin to “terrorism.”
Following his current prison sentence, Propst is being ordered to serve three years of supervised release.
