No Charges for Okla. Education Chief in TV Nudity Incident

Sheriff's office investigated after board members reported seeing images of nude women
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 28, 2025 11:30 PM CDT
Updated Sep 18, 2025 12:30 AM CDT
2 Say They Saw Nude Women on Okla. Education Chief's TV
Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters speaks during a special state Board of Education meeting, April 12, 2023, in Oklahoma City.   (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
UPDATE Sep 18, 2025 12:30 AM CDT

Oklahoma County's top prosecutor said Wednesday she declined to file criminal charges after two Board of Education members said they saw images of naked women on a television in the office of state School Superintendent Ryan Walters. District Attorney Vicki Behenna released a statement saying there was "insufficient evidence" to support criminal charges, the AP reports. Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson III, whose office launched an investigation into the allegations, said Wednesday his investigators determined the television in Walters' office was tuned to a movie channel that was running the 1985 film The Protector, starring Jackie Chan. That movie includes a scene in which naked women enter a warehouse to package drugs. In a statement, Walters blamed the media and "his accusers" of trying to stop his agenda. "This concludes the biggest witch hunt in Oklahoma history," Walters said.

Jul 28, 2025 11:30 PM CDT

An Oklahoma sheriff's office on Monday opened an investigation over reports that images of nude women were displayed on the state's school superintendent's office television during a meeting with education board members. Top Oklahoma lawmakers have sought answers over accounts given by two State Board of Education members, who said they saw the images during a meeting in Ryan Walters' office Thursday. Another board member, Chris Van Denhende, said he was not in a position to see the television but that "something was on the screen that should not have been," based on Walters' reaction, reports the AP. The investigation is in the early stages, said Aaron Brilbeck, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office. He said it was not clear if any laws were violated.

Walters, a Republican, has spent much of his first term in office lauding President Trump, feuding with teachers unions and local school superintendents, and trying to end what he describes as "wokeness" in public schools. Brilbeck said the sheriff's office was investigating at the request of the state's Office of Management and Enterprise Services, which handles technology, human resources, and property management issues for state government. Education board members Becky Carson and Ryan Deatherage told the online news outlet NonDoc that they saw a video featuring naked women in Walters' office during the executive session. They said that they were the only people seated in places where they could see the screen. Carson recounted her experience to NonDoc:

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  • "I was like, 'Is that woman naked?' And then I was like, 'No, she's got a body suit on.' And it happened very quickly, I was like, 'That is not a body suit.' And I hate to even use these terms, but I said, 'Those are her nipples.' And then I was looking closer, and I got a full-body view, and I was like, 'That is pubic hair.'"
Carson said that when she asked Walters to turn it off he expressed confusion before doing so. Walters said in an X post on Sunday that "any suggestion that a device of mine was used to stream inappropriate content on the television set is categorically false. I have no knowledge of what was on the TV screen during the alleged incident, and there is absolutely no truth to any implication of wrongdoing," he wrote. Walters' office did not immediately reply to a request by the AP for comment about the investigation on Monday. Van Denhende told the AP that he's fine with the sheriff's department investigating, though "I'm not certain if it is a violation of law or state policy."

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