An assistant district attorney in Oklahoma was arrested on Monday for possession of child pornography, authorities say.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) said in a Nov. 28 statement that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) forwarded 14 cybertips in early September that helped investigators to identify 53-year-old Kevin Etherington of Stillwater as a possible suspect of child molestation.
As a result, agents with the OSBI and Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) executed a search warrant at Etherington’s residence resulting in his arrest.
Etherington has been transferred to the Payne County Jail where he was booked on one count of aggravated possession of child pornography and one count of violation of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act, according to the statement.
Laura Austin Thomas, Etherington’s boss and the district attorney of Payne and Logan County, issued a lengthy statement on Monday after learning about his arrest.
“The people of our State should be proud of this division of OSBI, their complete professionalism and their mission to protect children,” she said in a press release that was uploaded by FOX23 on Scribd.
Thomas noted that Etherington had worked as a prosecutor in the two counties for eight years, adding that she’s “dismayed and disappointed.”
“Much of my career has involved crimes against children and advocacy on their behalf,” Thomas said. “My offices have zealously prosecuted this crime and I, personally, find the manufacture, distribution and possession of child pornography to be both disgusting and incredibly damaging to individual victims and society.
“While the accused stands innocent of the alleged crime until proven guilty, my review of the investigation has resulted in this person’s dismissal from employment by my office,” she continued.
Thomas said it would not be appropriate for her office to prosecute a former employee, adding that she has “initiated the process by which I recuse” to ask Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor to assign the case to an attorney outside her district.
Etherington reportedly faced termination as a prosecutor in the past after he was accused of having an affair with a married co-worker, the Oklahoman reported.
“You are not welcome in the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s office and I will have you arrested immediately if you appear at the Downtown DA’s Office or the Juvenile DA’s Office,” David Prater, an attorney in Oklahoma, told Etherington in an email in November 2010, according to the paper.
In 2017, Etherington was also charged with larceny from a house after stealing a $30 vehicle jack from his ex-wife’s Edmond home. The charge was dropped three months later.