For about thirteen years, home schoolers across the country have been harassed by a man, many refer to as the "pervert caller," asking inappropriate questions about child discipline. Although it appeared that he had slowed his activity, Home School Legal Defense Association has received many contacts in the last few months that show he is still preying on innocent home schoolers.

The man often poses as a new Christian or a home schooler new to the area. He usually speaks with a British accent, and uses several pseudonyms, including John or Michael Anderson, Peter Ross, and other last names ending in "-son."

Often he calls a pastor to ask if there are any families in the church that he can talk to about home schooling, and then calls the family with questions about home schooling. However, the questions then veer off into discussions about child discipline, especially spanking.

Home schoolers from all over have reported being contacted by this prank caller. There does not appear to be any pattern to his calls. In the last year, he has called families in Wyoming, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Ohio, and New York. Due to the caller's habit of using pay phones and calling cards, it has been very difficult to track him down, even using Caller ID.

HSLDA is working to find out who this caller is, and to see that he is stopped. If this man calls you, please write down the number he is calling from, the name he is using, and the exact date and time that the call began, and please forward this information to HSLDA, attention Scott Somerville (scott@hslda.org).

We would appreciate your assistance in this matter. Thirteen years is too long for this pattern of harassment to continue.