Oklahoma assistant DA Kevin Etherington fired and arrested on child pornography charges
STILLWATER, OKLAHOMA: A first assistant district attorney for Payne and Logan counties in Stillwater, Oklahoma was detained on Monday, November 28, after his residence was raided as part of an investigation into child pornography. Kevin Etherington, 53, was being detained in the Payne County prison on charges of child pornography and computer offenses. His supervisor, District Attorney Laura Austin Thomas, dismissed him shortly after his arrest. According to the news release, he was arrested after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children passed 14 cyber tips to the OSBI on September 1.
Etherington had worked as a prosecutor in Logan and Payne counties for eight years. District attorney Thomas thanked the OSBI "for their diligence in finding these offenders throughout our state, regardless of who they may be." "I can't explain how horrified and disgusted I am by this development," she reportedly remarked. "Let me be clear that my loyalty is to you, the people I represent in my district, and in upholding the law and protecting our citizens, particularly the most vulnerable of us," she said as per The Oklahoman.
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"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," the District attorney added further. Etherington had already been fired once before. David Prater, the District Attorney for Oklahoma County, fired him in 2010 after he had an affair with a married co-worker. He, too, was married to a co-worker at the time, it was revealed in the report.
"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," Prater told him in an email on November 4, 2010. His wife sued for divorce three weeks later, but her petition was denied in 2011. In 2015, she filed for divorce again, and at the time it was granted.
Etherington was charged with house larceny in 2017 after stealing car jack stands from his former wife's home in Edmond. Three months later, the criminal case was dropped. Following his arrest, he stated that he was "reclaiming property that was rightly mine." "This is a divorce-related property issue that should have been addressed as such," Etherington stated, as per the report.