Oklahoma Child Exploitation Case - Updated

(Shawnee, Oklahoma)

A former Oklahoma schoolteacher who pleaded no contest to child pornography and exploitation charges changed her plea to guilty Friday and agreed to accept a 45-year prison sentence.

Former third-grade teacher Kimberly Crain, 50, pleaded guilty midway through a sentencing hearing in which she could have been sentenced to life in prison on multiple counts of sexual exploitation of a child under 12 and possession of juvenile pornography, plus separate counts of conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation and lewd molestation.

Crain tearfully apologized to members of her family, friends and the parents and other family members of more than a dozen former students.[…]

Earlier, the judge accepted Crain's guilty pleas to 31 felony counts, including 18 counts of sexual exploitation that will require her to serve 85 percent of her 45-year sentence, or 37 years and three months, before she is eligible for parole.

District Attorney Richard Smothermon said 45 years is effectively a life sentence. I'll say.

* * * * * Exploitation of Girls in Bras and Panties - Updated
[Previous 1/11/13 post]
(Shawnee, Oklahoma) Former third-grade teacher at McLoud Elementary School, Kimberly Crain, 49, has admitted to taking lewd photos of pre-teen girls (9 to 11 years old) during pizza parties she hosted in her home. Hidden video also captured the girls naked.

The photos and video were shared with Gary Doby, 67, a retired Bloomsburg University professor of early childhood development. Doby pleaded guilty to child exploitation charges this week and was sentenced to life in prison.

Crain pleaded no contest to child exploitation and pornography charges. Judge John Canavan Jr. ordered a pre-sentence evaluation prior to Crain's sentencing scheduled for March 22.

The judge told Crain, 49, that she faces a minimum of 25 years, but the prosecutor said he'll seek the maximum.

"He (Doby) stood up and took responsibility. She didn't," District Attorney Richard Smothermon said outside court. "The only way justice is done is that they never get out prison."

Crain's voice quivered, and she appeared to tear up as she stood before the judge dressed in an orange, jail-issued jumpsuit and shackled by the wrists.

Reportedly, the child exploitation scheme transpired for two years before authorities were notified.

Note that Gary Doby is logically the previously-mentioned "Uncle G."

* * * * *Teacher Took Photos of Girls in Bras and Panties
[Previous 12/1/11 post]
(Shawnee, Oklahoma) A 48-year-old third-grade teacher at McLoud Elementary School, Kimberly Crain, has resigned her teaching position ostensibly due to an investigation regarding alleged inappropriate behavior with students.

The investigation of Crain began earlier this month when a parent told police that her daughter had been invited--along with other girls--to Crain’s residence for a pizza party. The child told her parents that “they dressed up in bras and panties and decorated the tree and ate pizza.”

Under questioning by her parents, the girl revealed that Crain “took photos of her and her friends decorating the tree,” and that some of the girls “made up a cheer dance and did it in the bra and panties while Crain videotaped them.”

According to a search warrant affidavit, Crain told the girls that, “she had something for them to change into” at her home. The bras and panties--imprinted with phrases like “Ho! Ho!”--were on a bed, and “Crain had all of the girls into the bedroom, one by one, and change into the bras and panties.”

Two girls did not want to change into the bras, so they just wore a t-shirt with the panties, according to the affidavit. But “Crain told them that they needed to go put the bras on,” police reported.

A detective secured the warrant to search Crain’s residence for computer equipment, cell phones, digital storage devices, and other material.

Reportedly, Crain also had girls interact online with an older man named "Uncle G." Suspicious? I think so. (More….)