FOX23 is going In Depth on the investigation just now getting underway into what may or may not have happened inside State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ office last Thursday.
State Board of Education members say there were images of nude women on a screen in the superintendent’s office and the superintendent says he’s being attacked for his political stances.
The investigation to try to determine what happened started over the weekend and we got even more details on Monday.
The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office tells FOX23 News it is now leading the investigation into what happened inside State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ office during an executive session last Thursday.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation also tells FOX23 it is standing by with resources ready to help in the investigation should anything criminal possibly be found.
It is now up to law enforcement to figure out not only were there naked women on a TV screen in the superintendent’s office and where they came from, but also if those images being on a state-owned device also broke any laws.
After first calling the allegations against him a distraction, Walters released a new statement Sunday saying he was the victim of a political attack and said, “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.”
But the statement is contradictory to what board members have told FOX23 they saw on a TV screen in Walters’ office.
Board members Becky Carson and Ryan Deatherage both said they directly witnessed fully naked women playing on a TV in Walters’ office during a closed-door meeting.
Board members Mike Tinney and Chris Van Denhende both told FOX23 their backs were turned to the TV when the nudity was allegedly being displayed, but they say Walters frantically tried to remove the images from the screen when confronted by Carson openly saying something along the lines of “I see naked women. I see naked women,” referring to what was on the screen.
After he was able to remove the images from the TV, the board members say Walters continued business as usual without further acknowledgement of what just happened.
Initially, the Office of Management and Enterprise Services said they were taking control of the investigation, but after it was found they have no authority to investigate such a case, they asked the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office to step in and made OSBI aware as well.
FOX23 has not been able to determine if the laptop and TV screen in question were removed from Walters’ office yet for examination, but the sheriff’s office tells FOX23 their work is in the very early stages and they did not have possession of any devices from anyone yet.
You can read the full second statement from Walters below:
“As I lead the charge for a bold overhaul of education in Oklahoma, putting parents back in control, rejecting radical agendas, and demanding excellence: it’s no surprise to face politically motivated attacks.
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.
These falsehoods are the desperate tactics of a broken establishment afraid of real change. They aren’t just attacking me, they’re attacking the values of the Oklahomans who elected me to challenge the status quo.
I will not be distracted. My focus remains on making Oklahoma the best state in the nation, in every category."
For additional statements from public officials, click here.
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