Wetumka Schools Update: Confessed Pedophile Surrenders Teaching Certifications, Supt Wife to Retire, District Lawyers Up, DA Yet to Arrest
Wetumka Schools Update: Confessed Pedophile Surrenders Teaching Certifications, Supt Wife to Retire, District Lawyers Up, DA Yet to Arrest
DA Erik Johnson Receives Completed Investigation from Local Law Enforcement
In this update on Wetumka Public School’s confessed pedophile:
First Case Presented to DA Erik Johnson: Teacher/Coach/Pedophile’s recorded admission of guilt and one victim’s relentless pursuit of justice
Following State Board of Ed suspension, Brent McGee voluntarily surrenders teaching certifications
At Superintendent Donna McGee’s recommendation, Wetumka’s Board of Ed lawyers up with predictable representation
The Dangers of Nepotism: Superintendent Donna McGee provides inaccurate information to WPS Board about husband’s continued access to students
Friday Night Freedom: Another victim turned hero discloses abuse publicly at WHS football game
WPS Superintendent Donna McGee announces May 2024 retirement
WPS Board unwilling to comment and difficult to reach
District 22 DA Erik Johnson Given Completed Investigation: No arrests yet and no comment from DA
Power in Numbers: Within epidemic of weak sentencing for public education pedophiles, additional victims urged to contact law enforcement
First Case Presented to DA Erik Johnson: Teacher/Coach/Pedophile’s Recorded Admission of Guilt and One Victim’s Relentless Pursuit of Justice
Since October, The V1SUT Vantage has been reporting as multiple male victims spanning generations have recently come forward, disclosing more than 30 years of sexual molestation by Brent McGee, a public education icon in rural Wetumka, Oklahoma.
The previous article included imbedded audio (below) and extensive transcription of a recorded conversation between McGee and Casey Yochum, a former victim of McGee who embarked on an over three-year social media and evidence collection campaign seeking justice for McGee’s victims.
Within the recording, McGee admits to and discusses details concerning the abuse he perpetrated upon Yochum as a youth. The case provides disturbing insight into the nepotistic relationships and misplaced protectionism within public school systems that allow child perpetrators ongoing access to children.
McGee’s victims are reported to be primarily vulnerable youth who lacked relationships with their fathers, money and/or support. McGee held significant power over their lives as the alternative education teacher, athletic director, multi-sport coach and husband of the superintendent, as well as longtime city councilman and mayor of Wetumka, and owner of the local Dairy Queen where many Wetumka teens have worked for generations.
With county, state, federal and tribal authorities coordinating, recent developments in the case suggest justice is on the way for the boys of Hughes County. The first of what is predicted to be multiple waves of recommended charges from the various agencies involved is now in the hands of District Attorney Erik C. Johnson (R-District 22). The Hughes County Sheriff informs her office has submitted their investigation to DA Johnson.
In 2022, Johnson ran unopposed, claiming “PUBLIC SAFETY IS HIS TOP PRIORITY”. His office has not yet filed charges against McGee or issued an arrest warrant.
“Public safety is a cornerstone of this office, and I pledge to work with all law enforcement entities, whether state, tribal or federal to make our communities as safe as possible.” - Campaign website, Erik Johnson (R) 2022
Following State Board of Ed Suspension, McGee Voluntarily Surrenders Teacher Certifications
On October 26th, Casey Yochum spoke before the Oklahoma State Board of Education, publicly sharing how Brent McGee had taken him under his wing as a fatherless middle-schooler, gained his and his mother’s trust and molested him for years.
In response to Yochum’s testimony, the State Board of Education voted to suspend McGee’s teaching certifications. A short time later, McGee voluntarily surrendered his certifications to the OSDE, choosing not to pursue available due process options or await the results of an investigation.
At Superintendent Donna McGee’s Recommendation, Wetumka Board of Ed Lawyers Up with Predictable Representation
At the November 6th meeting of the WPS Board of Education, Donna McGee, WPS superintendent and wife of the accused Brent McGee, recommended the district retain The Center for Education Law (CFEL) as legal counsel. All three present members of the WPS Board, Donald Williamson(D), John L. Curtis(D) and Nina Maas(R), voted to approve a “Basic Legal Services Program Agreement” with CFEL as recommended.
CFEL is a for-profit law firm that represents multiple Oklahoma districts facing scandals for putting students at risk. Among them are Western Heights PS (WHPS) and Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS). Both districts hired Shane Murnan, a known drag queen who faced previous charges including possession of child pornography while teaching 5th grade in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Laura Holmes, shareholder/attorney at CFEL, was in attendance during an executive session (non-public) of the WHPS school board meeting where Murnan was hired despite an admitted discussion of his lifestyle and previous charges.
Holmes is also representing Shawnee Public Schools within a civil suit (JOHN DOE V. INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 93, ET. AL.) involving now convicted, longtime teacher/coach and assistant athletic director Ronald Arthur and the district’s failure to protect students.
Arthur was convicted of felony solicitation of sexual contact with a minor using technology after Cleveland County DA Greg Mashburn dismissed two, more serious criminal charges (first-degree rape and forcible sodomy). When the criminal case was transferred back to Pottawatomie County, DA Adam Panter chose not to reinstate the earlier charges. Arthur awaits formal sentencing on February 7th.
CFEL often prevails in defending school districts against failure to protect lawsuits by requesting the transfer of cases from county level courts to United States District Courts (federal) based on constitutional considerations and, in short, arguing that you just can’t sue the government (i.e. public schools and their representatives). Like many of CFEL’s other clients, Wetumka PS and its board appear to be lawyering up to defend themselves against potential charges of failing to protect WPS students from a known predator.
The Dangers of Nepotism: Superintendent Donna McGee Provides Inaccurate Information to WPS Board about Husband’s Continued Access to Students
The McGee’s have no biological children of their own but have been confirmed to have taken several boys into their home over the years, eventually adopting one. This publication previously revealed Donna McGee’s reported role in allowing her husband unfettered and unsupervised access to the community’s most vulnerable adolescents.
From previous reporting:
Yochum and other victims believe Donna McGee was aware of the abuse being perpetrated upon the students she is paid to protect. In a posted video, Yochum states:
“Brent McGee who wants to swoop in and say oh I’m better than your dad, this is what I can do for you, your secrets are good with me, I’m your best friend, look at my wife even, she’s in on it, she knows what my problem is, but she is going to be there for us, and she’s gonna cook us food, she’s gonna clean our house and she’s gonna act like nothing ever happens.”
Donna McGee placed her husband as head of alternative education at WHS, in a separate building apart from any other staff. Brent McGee had constant, unsupervised access to the most at-risk boys in town. His roles as soccer, football, track and Key Club coach involved out-of-town and even overnight trips with some of the same students.
At the district’s regular board meeting in November, Donna McGee responded to board member questions about her husband by stating, “The day the FBI came in, he (Brent McGee) resigned on the spot, so he has not been back in the school district”. Donna McGee, under the advice of her attorney, declined to answer further questions from board members regarding any steps that may or may not have been taken to ensure student safety.
While it is confirmed Brent McGee officially stepped down from his positions at WPS following an FBI visit to the district in August of 2022, multiple sources confirm that he continued to frequent the WPS campus, even harassing a reported victim on the sidelines of a WPS football game during the Fall of 2023.
A social media post by Wetumka HS/JH principal and head football coach Darrell Reid within a private group suggests McGee served as a coach on the WHS track team during the Spring of 2023 after the FBI visit.
Reid was present for the FBI’s visit to WPS in August of 2022, and well aware of the reasons for McGee’s resignation (see previous reporting) yet appears to have allowed McGee continued access to WPS boys.
Friday Night Freedom: Another Victim Turned Hero Discloses Abuse Publicly at HS Football Game
Brent McGee spent years on the sidelines of the WPS football field as a coach, Donna McGee presided over high school games as the district’s superintendent and the McGee’s Dairy Queen was a regular sponsor of WPS football.
On November 3rd (2023), during Wetumka’s annual rivalry game against Weleetka, Donna McGee approached a player on the sidelines and was loudly and repeatedly informed by the student that her husband had “raped” him. The scene was witnessed by multiple players, WPS staff, game attendees and law enforcement.
Witnesses inform that when the player, who will not be identified by this publication due to his age, was pulled out of the game for unknown reasons, Donna McGee approached him to “calm him down”, suggesting a more than administrative relationship between the two. A bystander said the player’s disclosures of sexual abuse by Brent McGee continued, even as the boy was leaving the locker room later that evening. The student, a senior, has since left the district and is cooperating with law enforcement.
WPS Superintendent Donna McGee Announces May 2024 Retirement
On December 4th, Donna McGee’s intention to retire was acknowledged by the WPS board.
Donna McGee’s eight certifications through the OSDE are set to expire one month prior to her retirement.
During a special meeting of the WPS board on December 18th, candidates to replace Donna McGee as superintendent were discussed within executive session.
WPS Board Unwilling to Comment and Difficult to Reach
WPS does not publicly provide contact information for board members on its website, making it challenging for parents and concerned constituents to contact their elected representatives. Since October 10, 2023, this publication has attempted, through both phone and email at his business, to gain board member Donnie (Donald) Williamson’s comments concerning the accusations against Brent McGee and to learn whether any measures were taken by the WPS School Board to protect students. Williamson has not responded.
In August of 2015, Williamson, a pastor, funeral home owner/director and gospel singer/musician, received a 7-year deferred sentence for embezzling pre-paid funeral funds. According to the Oklahoma Insurance Department:
He (Williamson) admitted to accepting money for prepaid funerals but not establishing trust funds or purchasing the insurance policies required for payouts. Instead, Williamson deposited the money into the funeral home’s banking account to use for operating expenses. Investigators found 28 victims from Nov. 2011-Dec. 2014. By the end of the investigation, nearly $75,000 meant to pay for funerals was missing. Approximately $50,000 was still in the business banking account.
Williamson, who took out a personal loan to repay his victims, pleaded no contest to embezzlement and guilty to violating the Prepaid Funeral Benefits Law.
More recently, additional contact information was obtained through a public records request to the district and the publication has since reached out to other WPS board members and received no responses.
District 22 DA Erik Johnson Given Completed Investigation: No Arrests Yet and No Comment from DA
Due to jurisdiction considerations related to the McGirt decision, the investigations involving Brent McGee are spread among multiple, law enforcement agencies. The first completed investigation and request for an arrest warrant from the Hughes County Sheriff has been provided to District Attorney Erik Johnson (District 22 covering Hughes, Pontotoc and Seminole Counties).
Since December 27th, this publication has been seeking an update on the case from DA Johnson’s office. After a reminder email on January 4th, DA Johnson replied with a promise of communication or a conversation, and this publication offered available times for a phone conversation. Johnson has not been heard from since, despite another reminder email on January 8th.
In November, DA Johnson gave an extensive interview with the publication Nondoc about his current caseload, including the Brent McGee investigation:
Johnson confirmed Monday that state and federal law enforcement agents are still investigating former Wetumka Mayor Brent McGee for alleged sexual misconduct with teenage boys he encountered as a teacher, coach and mentor.
“I have staffed this issue with the Hughes County sheriff. I understand that there is a current investigation, with assets from the Hughes County Sheriff’s Department and OSBI,” Johnson said. “I am also aware that the FBI is on a parallel track with an investigation of an allegation that would have been much older.”
In January of 2023, upon taking his oath of office, Johnson described his preparedness for and dedication to the prosecution of crimes against children during an interview with KTEN:
"I’ve hired two new investigators. Doug Parker retired from the Oklahoma City Police department after 27 years of service. He's been a homicide detective for the last five years, and prior to that, he was the primary detective on the crimes against children unit,” Johnson explained. “It’s our job to marshal the resources of child advocates, the Department of Human Services, or law enforcement and make sure that we bring all of those resources to bear to make sure that if someone does something bad to a child, they will pay the penalty.”
Given the McGee’s continued ownership of the Dairy Queen in Wetumka and risk of harm to youth currently under their employment, concerned citizens can reach DA Johnson by phone or email:
Power in Numbers: During Epidemic of Weak Sentences for Public Ed Pedophiles, Additional Victims Urged to Contact Law Enforcement
In 2017, one brave family spoke out about teacher and prolific pedophile Ian Highful (42) of Eagletown Public Schools in (Southeast Oklahoma).
In January of 2018, DA Mark Matloff agreed to dismiss Highful’s charges with less than a slap on the wrist (see below), despite law enforcement informing of a large number of victims and “allegations of a sexual nature”. Highful retained his teaching credentials and access to the boys of McCurtain County.
It wasn’t until 2021, and the suicide of Tra Minchew (22), a Highful victim, husband, father and aspiring PBR rider, that more of Highful’s victims came forward to law enforcement, forcing the hand of justice and DA Mark Matloff to act.
In June of 2023, Highful was sentenced to 25 years. More victim reports mean more charges, more pressure for DA’s to act, heavier sentences and real justice for all involved.
Report to Law Enforcement: If you are or were a victim of Brent McGee, you are encouraged to contact the US Attorney’s Office at (918) 684-5100 (tell them you want to inquire about the Brent McGee case and they will route you to the appropriate investigator).
Victim Support: Casey Yochum is coordinating a brotherhood of support for victims as they seek justice. “There’s kids, kids in their 20s, kids in their teens that have been affected by this monster…If we save one child it’s worth it, if we save two children, we’re moving mountains,” states Yochum. Contact him by email: caseyyochum@gmail.com.
To report child abuse: If you suspect a child is being abused by anyone, you are mandated by Oklahoma law to contact the Statewide 24-hour Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline directly at 1-800-522-3511. This includes employees of school districts, as no policy can override this mandated reporter law.
The V1SUT Vantage will be following this developing story closely.
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