Tulsa Police See Rise in Child Abuse

By Kendrick Marshall
Tulsa World
October 15, 2012

http://www.tulsaworld.com/specialprojects/news/crimewatch/article.aspx?subjectid=450&articleid=20121015_11_A11_Thenum292037

The number of child-abuse cases reported in Tulsa is on the rise, and Sgt. Brandon Wyckoff of the Tulsa Police Department's Child Crisis Unit has come to grips with the sobering reality that he has arguably the dirtiest job in law enforcement.

The unit handles an average of roughly 1,500 cases of child physical or sexual abuse a year, according to police data, and so far this year, the unit has investigated more cases than in all of 2011, Wyckoff said.

Last month alone, the unit investigated 147 reports of child physical or sexual abuse. In August, 160 such cases were investigated.

"It is something that the public doesn't want to see," Wyckoff said of the situations in which adults prey on innocent children.

Some high-profile cases have been investigated recently by detectives in the Child Crisis Unit. Those cases include that of Ricky Lewis, 31, of Tulsa, who was arrested Sept. 28 on allegations that he manufactured and distributed child pornography and attempted to procure a minor's participation in the creation of child pornography.

The charges involve an 8-year-old, a 2-year-old and a 3-month-old.

Lewis' arrest report alleges that he solicited women via text messages to send them nude photos of their children, saying he desired to have sex with their young daughters.

Two women, Sally Deupree, 55, of Glenpool and Brittiny Linne Dick, 21, of Vinita, have also been charged in the case.

Also last month, Chris Denman, 20, and Israel Castillo, 23, were fired from Victory Christian Center, a Tulsa megachurch with 17,000 members and a worldwide presence through television and Internet, after allegations arose of sex crimes involving minors.

Denman was arrested Sept. 5 and later charged with first-degree rape, forcible sodomy and lewd molestation on an allegation that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl before a church service Aug. 13.

Castillo is charged with making a lewd or indecent proposal to a child and using a computer to facilitate a sex crime. His charges are in connection with a 15-year-old girl.

Five other church employees - Paul Willemstein, 32; Anna George, 24; Harold Frank Sullivan, 73; Charica Daugherty, 27; and John Daugherty, 28 - are charged with failing to report child abuse, a misdemeanor. They have returned to work at the church after being suspended.

Investigators say it is not out of the ordinary for large entities such as churches and schools to attempt in-house solutions - such as counseling or prayer - first to address abuse claims before contacting the police or the Department of Human Services.

"To pray with them or to use counseling is (sometimes) a normal response," Wyckoff said, but "that approach is misguided."

Detective Danielle Bishop says such institutions often protect themselves first, instead of the victims.

"Any time (a sex-abuse crime) happens at a large organization, the entity is likely to take priority over the priority of the victims," Bishop said.

When there is a significant delay in reporting abuse, it can hinder the investigation, authorities say.

This can be especially difficult when a possible crime is not immediately reported due to a belief that the suspect doesn't fit the profile of an abuser.

Such was the case, police said, of 33-year-old Jamal Thomas, who was charged Sept. 19 with first-degree rape on an accusation that he sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl. Thomas was an acquaintance of the victim's mother, police said.

"Unfortunately, it is hard for people to believe that someone they know could abuse children," Wyckoff said. "It is important that these incidents are reported for the sake of both the child and the adults.

"The best thing for us is to find out something didn't happen after an investigation than for the incident not to be reported at all.

"We have to let (the child) know that someone is out there for them, that someone cares for them and justice will be served," he said.

Contact: kendrick.marshall@tulsaworld.com