Prosecutor Eric Hoffman Allegedly Threatens Nine-Year Old Through Text with Court
8.5.2025 / News / Joseph Souza
MUNCIE, Ind. — Text messages show Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman flashing his badge, allegedly threatening a nine-year-old child with court over a disagreement between his children and another child. Public records show the number traces back to Eric Hoffman, along with the badge that indicates his name and position as a Delaware County Prosecutor. The father of the child who received the text, Aiden Sitgreaves, said he received a call from a family member informing him of the menacing messages sent to his daughter late at night.
“It would be one thing if my kid were 17, 18. Going into adulthood… It’s almost midnight on a working day, and the county prosecutor is going out of his way, after hours, to basically intimidate my child,” he said.
Eric Hoffman told the Post-Democrat that he was at a conference and legal seminar at the time, and claims he wasn’t sure if the person texting his child was another child or if he himself was in bigger danger. “As a prosecutor who prosecutes violent crime, I am always cognizant of the fact that there are people out there who wish to bring me physical harm.” Though according to Sitgreaves, Hoffman’s child was bullying his own initially.
Sitgreaves had never had any direct interactions with Eric Hoffman before this incident, but was aware of his position as Delaware County Prosecutor and knew their children were acquainted. “As someone who loves the city of Muncie, I don’t really want to be that guy [that says] ‘yeah, he should lose his job, fire him’, but at the same time there has been enough credible evidence, witnesses, that he is just continually [making mistakes],” Sitgreaves said.
On July 31st, Sitgreaves made a public post on Facebook documenting the incident and calling on others to speaking out against the misconduct, which he described in a clear attempt at intimidation.
“If [Hoffman] wasn’t, he would have just reached out, parent to parent. I mean, he is the county prosecutor. If he really wanted to get a hold of me, and it really upset his kids, he would have gotten a hold of me,” he said. “As a citizen, I don’t think that the county prosecutor should be using that power at that time of day to go after kids.”
Hoffman told the Post-Democrat: “The post you referenced stated that my ‘behavior [was] unethical, intimidating, and an outrageous abuse of authority. No public official should be harassing a child—especially outside of proper legal channels, and certainly not late at night.’ I disagree with those subjective statements. Many people forget in Indiana that a Prosecutor is also by statute a ‘law enforcement officer’ just like a police officer. It is important that when you are talking to someone, especially when you don’t know who is on the other end of the conversation, to identify yourself so they know with whom they are speaking. I identified myself, they however did not. There was nothing unethical, intimidating or outrageous.”
Hoffman ended his statement by saying he considered the matter closed. The prosecutor’s office can be reached through the following email address: prosecutor@co.delaware.in.us
Full statement from Eric Hoffman:
This email is in reference to a request you made regarding a Facebook post. I was recently out of town at a conference and legal seminar. While there, I received a panicked text from my oldest daughter. She said that someone, allegedly a juvenile had sent my 9 year old daughter what she believed to be harassing or otherwise profane or inappropriate messages sometime after 10:00 PM. (I say allegedly a juvenile because I do not know who the person was. These days you never know who exactly is on the other end of a text message. Additionally, as a prosecutor who prosecutes violent crime, I am always cognizant of the fact that there are people out there who wish to bring me physical harm). I asked my daughter to add me into the conversation so that I could see what was going on. The other person or persons were cursing at my 9 year old and making inappropriate statements using words like f*** and b*** as well as others. My children were scared and upset. I sent a text to the group and asked whoever it was that was sending the texts to please stop messaging my kids. They didn’t. So I identified myself by name, title and badge (again you never know who you are really talking to so I made sure to identify myself) and said if they do not quit contacting my daughter I was going to call the police. The person said they had a police officer living with them so I asked them if that is true, to please have the officer call me. I received no calls. I again asked that they stop texting. The texting ended. And that was that. I was able to block the numbers so my kids would no longer receive messages from whoever that was. Because the person stopped sending unsolicited messages I saw no reason to call the police or make a police report.
The post you referenced stated that my “behavior [was] unethical, intimidating, and an outrageous abuse of authority. No public official should be harassing a child—especially outside of proper legal channels, and certainly not late at night.” I disagree with those subjective statements. Many people forget in Indiana that a Prosecutor is also by statute a “law enforcement officer” just like a police officer. It is important that when you are talking to someone, especially when you don’t know who is on the other end of the conversation, to identify yourself so they know with whom they are speaking. I identified myself, they however did not. There was nothing unethical, intimidating or outrageous. The unwanted and profane texts to my daughter stopped in a matter of minutes and everything was done. There is nothing “intimidating” or “outrageous” about asking a person to stop unwanted communication. As far as the hour of the night, I can’t control when someone sends unwanted and profane text messages to my child. I responded in real time to bring the matter to a close.
I consider the matter closed and no further comment will be made.