GREENVILLE, S.C. —
A 34-year-old man in prison for sexually assaulting a child is accused of using a contraband cell phone to solicit nude pictures from a woman who says he also assaulted her when she was a child, police say.
(Archive video above: How contraband cellphones led to young soldier's death)
Greenville police said Samuel Lamont Whitner, 34, is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence for a 2009 conviction for the sexual assault of a 6-year-old.
Child rapist contacted former victim from inside SC prison and asked for nudes
Police said Whitner used a cellphone while in Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia for repeated, unsolicited communications with the victim who is now 20 years old.
The woman came forward in January to report sexual assaults she said Whitner committed in 2009 when she was 10 and 11 years old.
The woman said she remained silent about the assaults by Whitner -- who was close to her mother -- but after receiving numerous, unwanted social media messages from Whitner, she felt compelled to come forward and report the crimes.
Police said the assaults took place while Whitner was out on bond for the sexual assault of the 6-year-old, for which he was convicted and remains in prison.
During police interviews, the woman provided investigators with messages from Whitner, which substantiated the abuse.
Greenville detectives then notified the South Carolina Department of Corrections of the investigation and requested a search of Whitner’s prison cell.
Detectives said they found the contraband cell phone Whitner was using.
Whitner now faces an additional charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
At a media briefing on May 10, in Greenville, South Carolina Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling and Greenville Police Chief Ken Miller talked about the rampant use of contraband mobile phones that allow inmates to continue criminal activities and direct acts of violence.
Stirling and Miller detailed a Blackmail Scheme by two inmates at Lee Correctional Institution that resulted in the suicide of Army veteran Jared Johns, 24.
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John Dobbins Jr and Carl Smith Jr
Stirling and Miller encouraged federal lawmakers and agencies to allow correctional facilities to utilize cellphone-jamming technologies to block inmates from using all contraband mobile devices.
Stirling said this latest case continues to illustrate the urgency for the implementation of this technology.
“This is one more example of how badly we need to pass legislation to allow us to jam cellphone signals,” Stirling said. “Criminals go to prison and they are physically incarcerated, but they are virtually out among us.”
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