Oklahoma County deputies will lead investigation into nude images on Ryan Walters' office TV

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2 days ago

The Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office is leading an investigation to determine what was on a television in state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters' office during an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting, after two board members said they saw naked women on the TV screen.
Aaron Brilbeck, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, confirmed the agency's investigation on Monday, July 28. He said Sheriff Tommie Johnson III received a request from the state Office of Management and Enterprise Services to conduct the investigation.
State legislative leaders said Friday they'd asked OMES to look into the board members' accounts that they saw nude women on a TV in Walters' office during an executive session.
Brilbeck said the investigation was in its early stages and that investigators hadn't yet spoken with anyone involved in the meeting. Asked how long such an investigation might take, he said, 'Your guess is as good as mine.'
Hunter McKee, a spokesman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said his agency also had been contacted regarding an investigation. 'If there is something deemed criminal, we will be ready to help' the sheriff's office if it asks for help, McKee said.
Spokespeople for Walters have not answered questions about whether Walters will cooperate with any law enforcement investigation. Quinton Hitchcock, a spokesman for Walters, called the story a "junk tabloid lie," and Walters has said the board members are lying.
Oklahoma State Board of Education members confirm they saw the images
Board members Ryan Deatherage, of Kingfisher, and Becky Carson, of Edmond, told The Oklahoman on Friday they saw the images while the board met behind closed doors in Walters' office on Thursday. The state board was in Walters' office for an executive session to discuss teacher licensing, student attendance appeals and other sensitive issues. Walters chairs the board.
Deatherage and Carson, who were seated next to each other, said the television screen was not visible to all attendees because of the setup with the room. All four appointed board members in the room have said Walters was flustered when Carson called for the television to be turned off because of the images.
It is not known who was controlling the television or why the content was shown.
More: Nude women on Ryan Walters' TV screen during executive session: What we know
After Walters turned off the television, Carson said, he resumed the meeting without saying anything.
Hitchcock has not answered The Oklahoman's questions about what Carson and Deatherage said occurred. Hitchcock issued a statement Friday saying multiple people had access to the office — without identifying who they were — and describing the board members, who were appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, as hostile.
In a statement two days later, Walters denied knowing about or being responsible for the content. 'Any suggestion that a device of mine was used to stream inappropriate content on the television set is categorically false," he said. "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.'
Walters and the four board members in the room Thursday have clashed repeatedly on multiple issues since Stitt appointed them to the board earlier in 2025.
One of Walters' close political allies is Bob Linn, the president of the OCPAC Foundation, an organization that promotes conservative political values. In a newsletter emailed Monday, Linn wrote he'd spoken twice with Walters on Saturday. 'Ryan's office television is not connected to his phone, his laptop or any other device except the remote control which is lying on Ryan's desk,' Linn said.
Linn said he was told 'there were 48 staffers identified by camera as having walked in and out of Ryan's office' during the first 2½ hours of the meeting, which began at 9:30 a.m. with a public portion. The closed executive session started around 11:20 a.m., less than two hours into the meeting.
The Oklahoman requested a copy of the security camera footage under the Oklahoma Open Records Act, but the Oklahoma State Department of Education has not yet provided it.
Linn said Walters told him he was "never in the room" where the executive session was held until "well after noon." All four board members in the room told The Oklahoman that Walters appeared shocked or flustered after Carson called out the television content. Board members also said it was Walters who shut the television off.
Who is allowed in executive sessions?
During executive sessions, only board members, board and agency attorneys, the board executive secretary and any legislators who are present at the meeting are allowed in the room. No one else is allowed in without a specific invitation.
Security around Walters' office normally is exceptionally tight and access to him is limited, former employees of the Education Department have said. Ex-staffers have also said security officers guard the entrance to Walters' office.
During board meetings, several Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers are in the Oliver Hodge Building, where Walters' office is located and where education board meetings are held. The main hallway leading into his office is accessible only with a keycard.
Linn said Walters is conducting his own investigation into what happened.
'Ryan is investigating what appears to be a coordinated scenario from higher places,' Linn said in his newsletter. 'More will become public next week. The governor's office controls the access to the analysis on all its devices and Ryan has asked them to expedite the process and make public their findings.'
Abegail Cave, a spokeswoman for Stitt, flatly denied that assertion.
'We don't control Ryan's technology,' Cave said. 'We 100 percent do not control his technology.'
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Investigation into nude images on Ryan Walters' TV led by OK County
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