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  • Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton believes more awareness and education is needed in light of recent sexual crimes involving teachers and students.

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July 20, 2012

Teacher student incidents: Sex crimes spark safety awareness

Salesha Wilken Staff Reporter

CLAREMORE — Rogers County has recently seen an unusual increase in arrests for sexual assaults involving teachers and Sheriff Scott Walton is working to bring awareness to the issue.

In the past three months, three different teachers at Foyil and Claremore Sequoyah Public Schools were arrested for sex crimes against a minor.
The suspects had no prior arrests and normal background checks were conducted by the schools systems.
“The background checks are better now than they have ever been,” Walton said.
Yet, despite these efforts, the crimes were still committed leaving young victims and their families to deal with the aftermath.
Walton explains that this type of crime has not increased in Rogers County despite the recent arrests.
It is simply a matter of things coming to light at the same time, he explained.
Foyil Public Schools employed Jeffery Loveless Harris, 34, of Chelsea, at the time of his arrest.
Harris was arrested on May 24, on three counts of lewd or indecent proposals/acts to a child. Harris was employed in the alternative education department of Foyil schools.
Former Foyil High School basketball coach Jason Waide Ward, 37, of Claremore was formally charged with rape by instrumentation, two counts of lewd molestation and one count of sodomy.
Ward was arrested May 30, just one week after Harris.
Mark Thomas Buchanan, 34, a Claremore Sequoyah middle school choir teacher, was arrested July 9 after   deputies were contacted by his wife, whom he had reportedly told of a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old female victim.
Buchanan was booked into Rogers County Jail on 18 sex crimes complaints, including four counts of first-degree rape, six counts of making lewd and indecent proposals to a child and eight counts of sodomy of a victim under the age of 16.
Unexpected Crimes
These three arrests are examples of how unexpected this type crime can be.
“The criminals are all to often what appears to be normal trusted people and these three fit that criteria,” Walton said.
Often times, these crimes are occurring yet people don’t come forward to report it.
After the fact, when an arrest is made then people start making statements like “we heard about something going on for awhile now,” or “this happens all the time” yet nothing may have been reported to authorities, Walton explained.
It is not necessarily that the crimes have increased but people are communicating more now. 
With today’s technology information is everywhere, this can be an asset to law enforcement and a big part of the problem, according to Walton.
“Our kids are now exposed to things in junior high school that their parents were not exposed to until high school,” Walton said.
Cell phones, text messaging, social media and Facebook are new avenues for information and often times are tools for predators.
Combine technology with the technology learning curve for parents and sometimes it creates a real problem, according to Walton.
“Kids do know more about technology then parents do unless you make a living in that industry,” Walton said.
The fact is that these crimes do occur and technology is making it easier for predators.
“A true predators only mission is to groom and victimize that child,” Walton said. “They are trying to win their trust.”
Parental Monitoring Essential
Parents need to monitor their child’s activities including text messaging and Facebook.
Additionally, they should watch their child’s behavior around adults.
If your child makes inappropriate comments to an adult via electronic device or in person, it can be a warning signal, according to Walton.
Unfortunately, some parents being two wrapped up in their own “social media world” compound the problem,”  Walton said.
“If they are so hurried in their own social media to check their kids activities then they can’t expect to know what their kids are doing.”
Another issue is that the mix of generations and some people believe adults will not take advantage of kids, he said.
Anytime adults are supervising kids then parents need to make sure they are monitoring the situation.
This includes not only schools, but community groups and churches, Walton said.
The Rogers County Sheriff’s Office is working to help parents stay informed and give the public an avenue for reporting suspicious activity.
Through the use of Facebook and the  Sheriff’s Tipline at (918) 341-3620, people can contact the office and provide anonymous information. Walton encourages people to use the resources and to provide detailed information.
For example, include time, dates and names with any information that is provided.
This gives investigators more information to work from and helps authorities catch criminals faster.
Education is key, according to Walton. Parents can find a number of resources online to become more educated about this problem. 
Websites like www.childluresprevention.com and www.loveourchildrenusa.org can offer resources for parents. 
For more information about the  Sheriff’s Tipline, call (918) 341-3535.

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