OKLAHOMA CITY – State Schools Superintendent Ryan Walters will not face criminal charges after two members of the state Board of Education reported images of naked women on a television inside Walters’ office, the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s office said last week.
Vicki Behenna, the district attorney, said that her office would not file criminal charges against Walters. Behenna made the announcement Sept. 17 in a short, one-paragraph media statement.
“The District Attorney’s Office has reviewed the investigation conducted by the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office and reports provided by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation regarding playing nudity on a television in Superintendent Ryan Walters’ office during a state Board of Education meeting,” Behenna said. “After careful review, it has been determined there is insufficient evidence to file criminal charges.”
Behenna’s release came roughly a month after the sheriff’s office turned over results of its investigation.
In a story originally published by The Oklahoman newspaper, Walters disputed the accounts of the two state school board members, Becky Carson and Ryan Deatherage.
A third board member, Chris VanDenhende, told the Tulsa World newspaper he did not see the video but echoed the events described by Carson and Deatherage, including Walters’ reaction to Carson's calling out the video’s content and Walters’ efforts to turn off the television.
Walters said Carson and Deatherage were lying at the request of Gov. Kevin Stitt, who named them to the state school board earlier this year. Walters called the claims “categorically false” and said in late July that both members should resign their posts.
Carson said she called for the television to be turned off. She said Walters complied then resumed the meeting without explanation. Following the meeting, she filed a complaint with the state Office of Management and Enterprise Services, which asked the sheriff’s office to investigate the matter.
At the same time as the OSBI investigation, House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, said he believed the images were from a 1985 Jackie Chan film.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Walters issued a media statement, calling the investigation a political witch hunt.
'This concludes the biggest witch hunt in Oklahoma history,' Walters said. 'Lies were spread about me and my character. Not only did the liberal lying media and my accusers sacrifice the truth, they worked to create a narrative to tear my agenda down and mission to reform Oklahoma schools and put parents back in charge. Liberal lies lost again.'