Pervert: Hunting The Strip-Search Caller is soon set to hit Paramount Plus in the UK, and it will honestly leave you in shock.
The three-episode docuseries follows the horrifying true crime story of a hoax caller who targeted fast-food restaurants across small-town America by posing as a police officer investigating a theft. The caller instructed managers to strip-search young female employees who he said were suspects, quickly escalating into humiliating accounts of sexual abuse.
The limited series sees a rookie detective’s extraordinary mission to catch the culprit and seek justice for the victims of the bizarre hoax. Discussing the distressing events further, there will also be testimonies from investigators, victims, and those who were duped into committing strip-search crimes.
In real life, the strip search phone call scam began in rural areas in the United States in 1992, with over seventy similar instances reported until 2004 in Kentucky, in which an in-depth investigation (which is documented in the new Paramount Plus limited series) led to the arrest of David Richard Stewart.
Despite authorities finding plenty of physical evidence, David denied any involvement with the phone scams. He went to trial facing the possibility of 15 years in prison if found guilty. However, the jury found him not guilty. He was acquitted of all charges.
Since David’s arrest in 2004, the scam phone calls have stopped.
The case was so shocking that it has been portrayed by various media projects, including the 2012 movie Compliance starring Dreama Walker and Ann Dowd, as well as a 2008 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Pervert: Hunting the Strip Search Caller will hit Paramount Plus on October 25.