Offbeat | Man accused of mailing dead animals to school job winner

A southern Indiana man passed over for a coaching and teaching position allegedly mailed four dead skunks and a dead raccoon to the successful applicant, court documents say.
Travis Tarrants, 40, of West Baden Springs was charged earlier this week in Jackson Circuit Court with two counts each of stalking, intimidation and criminal mischief. He was being held without bond.
Tarrants began harassing the successful applicant because he was chosen over Tarrants for a basketball coaching position and fourth-grade teaching job at the Springs Valley School Corp. in French Lick, WISH-TV reported (bit.ly/2cYmu0p).
One of the packages intercepted at a post office contained a dead raccoon and a message that said, “Resign! It Will Not Stop,” documents said.
Investigators also believe that Tarrants placed four phone calls to the Indiana Department of Child Services, making claims that the teacher/coach was having sex with an underage student and was sexually abusing the daughter of an acquaintance.
Letters alleging a sexual relationship with an underage student also were sent to both teacher/coach and his fiancee at their jobs, documents said. One contained a picture of a man’s genitals and the teacher/coach’s telephone number.
Both victims also received voicemail messages threatening to kill the man’s fiancee and her baby. Tarrants also is accused of spray painting “u will die” and an expletive on vehicles belonging to the victims.
Tarrants’ girlfriend told investigators that he had trapped five to seven live skunks in late spring and kept them alive for several days.
Online court records did not list an attorney for Tarrants who might comment on his behalf.