IDOC Updates Statewide System That Protects Crime Victims
INDIANAPOLIS – An I-Team 8 investigation led to a change in a statewide system meant to protect crime victims in Indiana, which advocates believe could save lives.
The Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) has updated the Statewide Automated Victim Information Notification system, or SAVIN, so text alerts to registered victims will include a link with information on protective orders when an offender is released, set to be released, or escapes from prison.
SAVIN is a free service for victims to track an incarcerated offender’s prison status.
“Finally. It’s good that it’s happened. It’s a start for everyone else,” Indianapolis mother Kimber Amonette said.
News 8 shared her story in June, when the man who victimized Amonette as a child, Daniel Kelly, visited her workplace two days in a row.
Kelly, who is also Amonette’s father, was released early from his 72-year prison sentence for child molesting charges involving Amonette and her sisters.
Because authorities could not serve Kelly with a protective order, a police officer told Amonette there was no way to legally prevent him from approaching her.
“It was overwhelming,” Amonette said. “It felt like the system failed me.”
I-Team 8 took Amonette’s story directly to the office of Republican Gov. Mike Braun. Within weeks, the Braun administration acted to protect survivors by working with the IDOC to strengthen the information from SAVIN alerts.
The new text alert to registered victims will include the following information:
“Civil protection orders are available for situations involving domestic or family violence, sexual assault, stalking, harassment, or child sex grooming. To learn more about these orders, visit https://www.in.gov/courts/selfservice/protection-orders/“
Email updates have already included this information, but following Amonette’s story, it will now be sent straight to survivors’ phones.
The IDOC said the updated texts began the week of July 21.
Laura Berry, executive director of the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, applauded the change, saying, “Any resources or information that can go out to victims or survivors in advance, to know how to obtain this information, is key to keeping them safe.”
Berry’s nonprofit offers assistance to file for protective orders. The orders of protection can bar contact between an offender and their victim as well as children or even pets. Violating the order can lead to criminal charges.
“A protective order basically is preventing future violence,” Berry said.
Victims can file for a protective order once an offender’s release date is set.
The updated text notification can help victims start the filing process before an offender is released, which Berry believes can be crucial in having the orders successfully served.
“Because oftentimes when an offender is released from custody, you don’t know where they’re going,” Berry said. “There needs to be a reliable address to serve that order of protection.”
This effort to make information on protective orders more accessible, Berry believes, could save lives.
“Any additional information that’s provided to survivors, about how to keep them safe when an offender is being released, is critical,” Berry said.
Amonette hopes the change to statewide automated notifications can help others in her position quickly secure orders of protection, and prevent what happened to her from happening to others.
“It’s not fair for anyone to have to go through that,” Amonette said.
Since News 8’s initial reporting on Kelly, he’s violated parole. The Indiana Department of Correction said he was found guilty of possessing obscene materials and violating GPS monitoring. Kelly has returned to prison, with a scheduled release date in May 2028.
Amonette hopes this change to the statewide automated notifications can also open a conversation about other options to protect survivors like herself.
