THOUSAND OAKS : Boy Sues Man Who Made Phone Threats

A 12-year-old Thousand Oaks boy who says he was the victim of a man convicted of making terrorizing phone calls to hundreds of Southern California women filed a lawsuit Thursday against the man and his employer.

The lawsuit, filed in Ventura County Superior Court on behalf of the boy and his guardian, contended that Steven Imler, 38, intentionally inflicted emotional distress on the boy. The suit seeks unspecified punitive damages.

The suit contended that Imler telephoned the boy and told him that he had a gun and was holding his father hostage. Imler told the boy to undress and perform certain sexual acts or he would kill his father, the suit said.

The suit also claimed that Florence Filter Corp., the Compton company for which Imler worked as a telemarketing manager, negligently allowed Imler to make threatening calls from his office.

Imler was convicted of making threatening phone calls to women in Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties and was sentenced Sept. 7 in Ventura County Superior Court to six years in prison. Investigators had dubbed him the Alphabet Caller because of the systematic way in which he used phone directories to select his victims, calling only homes for which both husbands and wives were listed. Imler’s attorney and Florence Filter Corp. officials were unavailable for comment.