MILWAUKEE — The phone calls have not stopped since TMJ4 News first reported on the arrests of a former prison warden and eight members of his staff connected to two deaths.
"Waupun is like a fortress," Jovan Mull explained. "Once you get inside the walls are endless."
Mull vividly remembers serving time in the Waupun prison.
He returned to the community a few years ago but now has a hard time seeing his only son, who is also named Jovan Mull, struggling at the troubled facility.
Mull is one of several people who reached out to TMJ4 to express concerns for inmates in Waupun.
"Why are you putting your name and your son's name out there," reporter Mary Jo Ola asked.
"Because if this is what it takes truly get the light shine down there the way it needs to be," Mull responded.
Mull calls his son Junior. The 27-year-old has a young daughter. He also faces mental health issues.
"I don't think the institution knows how to deal with it. He's come close to death more than five times. They don't show any compassion," Mull stated.
If there are long stretches where Mull does not hear from his son he is gripped with worry and says he gets few answers.
Mull says he talked with Junior Friday morning, who said several other inmates held a protest at the prison after news of the arrests.
TMJ4 has reached out to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections to confirm.
"They want people out here to know what's going on there," Mull added.
The prison has struggled with a staffing shortage and issues for years. Elected officials and advocates have called for the prison's closure.
With Waupun Correctional Institution facing heightened public scrutiny, Mull has joined the call for accountability and change to improve safety.
"He doesn't deserve what he's going through. At the end of the day, he has not been given the opportunity to rehabilitate. He's not being given an opportunity to flourish so that he can come out and become a productive member of society like his father has," Mull said.
TMJ4 reached out to the Department of Corrections again for a response to the ongoing safety concerns.
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