A Texas man who prosecutors say sent a series of threatening and sexually explicit messages to the basketball star Caitlin Clark and traveled to Indiana to be closer to her has been charged with stalking.
The man, Michael T. Lewis, 55, was arrested on Sunday after investigators discovered that he had sent messages from an IP address in Indianapolis and that he was staying at a hotel near the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home of Ms. Clark’s team, the Indiana Fever of the W.N.B.A., the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office said on Monday.
Ms. Clark, 22, told a lieutenant from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday that she had been “very fearful” since she learned of Mr. Lewis’s posts on X and that she had “altered her public appearances and patterns of movement” because she feared for her safety, according to court documents.
Ms Clark said that she did not know Mr. Lewis and had never responded to any of his messages or posts.
Prosecutors said Mr. Lewis had stalked her from Dec. 16 until Jan. 11. Court documents described the messages as “sexually violent” and said that they had “actually caused Caitlin Clark to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated or threatened.”
Mr. Lewis traveled to Indianapolis “with the intent to be in proximity to the victim,” court documents said.
When Indianapolis police officers learned that he was in the city and talked to Mr. Lewis outside his hotel room on Jan. 8, he told them he was in “an imaginary relationship,” and that his messages were a “fantasy-type thing,” a “joke,” and “nothing to do with threatening,” according to court documents.
The police asked Mr. Lewis not to send more messages to Ms. Clark, but he continued, court documents said.
Mr. Lewis was charged with stalking, a felony that is punishable by up to six years in prison. He is scheduled to appear in Marion Superior Court on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.
The court issued an order on Sunday requiring Mr. Lewis to stay away from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse and Hinkle Fieldhouse, a basketball arena on the campus of Butler University.
“No matter how prominent a figure you are, this case shows that online harassment can quickly escalate to actual threats of physical violence,” Ryan Mears, the Marion County prosecutor, said in a statement on Monday. “It takes a lot of courage for women to come forward in these cases, which is why many don’t. In doing so, the victim is setting an example for all women who deserve to live and work in Indy without the threat of sexual violence.”
A representative for Ms. Clark declined to comment on Monday. The Indiana Fever did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Ms. Clark has emerged as one of the biggest stars in basketball, and she has been credited with drawing more fans to the W.N.B.A. She won Rookie of the Year in 2024 and led the league in assists, setting a single-season record with 337.
Last month, an Oregon man pleaded guilty to stalking another star in women’s basketball, Paige Bueckers of the University of Connecticut. The man was given a one-year suspended sentence and three years of probation.
