OXFORD - When Larry Mullins was sentenced to probation and counseling for harassing people whose tragedies he catalogued over three decades, he asked Judge Rob Lyons: “Can I get my journals back someday?”

        On Thursday, the Butler County Area I Court judge answered Mr. Mullins: No.

        Judge Lyons' decision came after the Hamilton man filed court papers seeking the return of more than 230 journals, which Butler County sheriff's deputies confiscated two years ago after reports he was using information in them to call families whose loved ones disappeared or died under tragic circumstances.

        Mr. Mullins had told a mental-health professional that making the calls gave him “a secret high” and was “fun and enjoyable, like playing a joke on somebody,” wrote Assistant Prosecutor Rick Weil, urging Judge Lyons to keep the journals away from him.

        “The potential for Mr. Mullins using these journals to commit future crimes and wreak havoc on the lives of innocent victims greatly outweighs any interest he may have in their return.”

        Mr. Mullins, then 58, was convicted of misdemeanors in Butler and Clermont counties in 2000; the Clermont charge led to a 45-day jail sentence.

        One victim on Friday said she feels more at ease.

        “We felt if he got his letters back, this harassment would start again - if not on us, on somebody else,” the 76-year-old Morgan Township woman said, asking that her name not be published.

        He had pleaded no contest to telephone harassment for calling that woman's home on the 10th anniversary of her daughter-in-law's death, claiming he had been involved in the fatal crash.

        Court officials have not decided what will happen to the journals.

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