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Oklahoma County DA won't press criminal charges against Walters for nudity on office television

State Superintendent Ryan Walters speaks with reporters at a May 16, 2025 press conference.
Beth Wallis
/
StateImpact Oklahoma
State Superintendent Ryan Walters speaks with reporters at a May 16, 2025 press conference.

Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna will not seek criminal charges against Ryan Walters after nude images appeared on his television during a state board meeting.

Behenna's office has finished its review of an investigation by the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office and reports from the OSBI.

Prosecutors cite insufficient evidence to file criminal charges.

In July, two state school board members – Ryan Deatherage and Becky Carson – reported seeing images of nude women on a television in Walters' private office.

A subsequent news release from House Speaker Kyle Hilbert revealed the images were likely scenes from the 1985 R-rated Jackie Chan film The Protector. The movie features nudity.

According to a forensic analysis, the television showed Samsung's Movie Hub Action channel when powered on. Hilbert contacted Samsung to inquire about the schedule of what aired during the board's executive session, and was told the 1985 R-rated film was on.

Behenna's office has been conducting the criminal probe since the July incident.

Walters denied Deatherage and Carson's account and accused Gov. Kevin Stitt of orchestrating a political attack.

"These board members have a lot to answer for, and so does the governor of the state of Oklahoma. Did he direct these board members to lie about me? Did he direct his board members to go in and disrupt everything in these board meetings?" Walters said in a July press conference. "(The board members) should resign immediately in disgrace for the lies that they've told."

Those board members were offended by the suggestion that they were lying.

"I think my immediate reaction would be, as anybody's reaction would whose character has been defamed in the public eye on TV, I do not plan on resigning at all," Carson said in a lengthy interview with News9. "And the one thing that him and I can agree on is I hope we can get back to work to do the job that we were put there to do."

Two months later, that still hasn't happened. Walters canceled an August meeting, and other members organized a meeting in early September to appoint their own legal counsel.


This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.

Robby grew up in Ardmore, Oklahoma and Fayetteville, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Nebraska with a Journalism degree. Robby has reported for several newspapers, including The Roanoke Times in southwest Virginia. He reported for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2019 through 2022, focusing on education.
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