Second OCDC Officer Fired This Week, Accused Of Child Pornography On Personal Phone
Beverly Cantrell - December 31, 2021 9:12 am
OKLAHOMA CITY –
A second Oklahoma County Detention Center employee was fired this week for bringing contraband to work, according to a statement on Thursday from jail officials.
Oklahoma City police arrested 31-year-old Emma Yandell Thursday at the jail.
The woman’s phone was found during a random employee search. Jail officials said personal phones are not allowed at work and are considered contraband.
Not only that, investigators said they found child pornography on the phone.
The now-former detention officer was put behind bars with the inmates she was once employed to keep watch over.
“Just before 2 p.m., Oklahoma City police investigators were notified by the Oklahoma County Detention Center and responded to the jail,” Oklahoma City Police Department Sgt. Dillon Quirk said. “This was in reference to some illicit materials being found on one of the employees of the jail’s phone.”
According to an arrest affidavit, Yandell gave consent for investigators to look through her phone after it was discovered during a contraband sweep of jail staff. Police were notified that jail investigators found two videos and a photo of a nude female possibly 12 to 14 years of age on Yandell’s phone. The affidavit stated the child was sitting in a bathtub full of bubbles, fully exposed.
Police said Yandell told investigators her juvenile son her the video sometime between January and May of this year. Yandell claimed she did not watch the entire video and called 911 to report it.
However, police said dispatch did not have a record of her call.
“We will continue to be proactive and vigilant in our efforts to keep contraband out of the jail,” OCDC CEO Greg Williams said in a statement. “We will not tolerate any employee, contract worker or visitor who violates policy or laws which were put in place to protect detainees and our employees.”
Police arrested Yandell on one complaint of possessing child pornography. The department still considers this as an ongoing investigation.
