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Former Teacher Caught Recording Students
A former Bixby High School teacher has pleaded guilty to recording students without their consent. Jason Scott Byrd, 46, of Jenks, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to attempting to receive child pornography, video voyeurism in Indian Country, and obstruction of justice.
On August 25, 2020, Byrd was caught by a witness walking behind a female student, holding his iPhone underneath her skirt. The witness noticed the red recording square and timer on the screen, indicating the phone was actively recording. Byrd was brought to a school office and held until law enforcement could question him, but he was briefly left unattended with his phone. Byrd admitted that when he saw law enforcement, he began deleting photographs and video, making them unrecoverable.
When questioned, Byrd initially denied the allegations but then indicated he was sorry and that he had a problem. He admitted to taking the video of the victim, as well as taking several similar photos or videos of other students over the past year. Byrd stated that those photos and videos were taken using the same cell phone.
In a written plea agreement, Byrd admitted that between August 1, 2019, and August 25, 2020, he intentionally attempted to use a camera to record and receive images of the victim and other students’ pubic areas. He further admitted that he captured those private images without their consent and under circumstances in which the individuals had a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Byrd, a Cherokee Nation citizen, started teaching at Bixby High School in 2008. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Lighthorse Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and Bixby Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Nassar is prosecuting the case.
Byrd will be sentenced on December 16, 2021. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Key Facts
- State: Oklahoma
- Category: Sex Crimes|Child Exploitation|Teacher Misconduct
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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