A 29-year-old Tulsa County detention officer is behind bars after Sand Springs police say they tracked him down using his own hand tattoos, identifying him as the man allegedly seen on video sexually assaulting a 12-year-old child. Wesley Starnes was booked into the Tulsa County Jail on charges of lewd or indecent acts to a child under 16 and possession of child pornography.
Police said Starnes was arrested after investigators found a video allegedly showing him sexually assaulting the child, according to News On 6. Sand Springs police said they observed the video, which allegedly showed Starnes committing the assault, on Tuesday. Investigators said video images and location details helped confirm that Starnes was the person recording the footage.
Police said the suspect's hand tattoos also helped confirm his identity in the video, ultimately leading Sand Springs police to identify the suspect as Starnes. The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office terminated Starnes once it learned of his arrest, cutting ties with him as a detention officer at the jail.
Other Oklahoma Cases Involving Detention and Police Personnel
Starnes's arrest adds to a string of recent Oklahoma cases involving law enforcement or jail personnel accused of crimes against children, though the available evidence does not establish any broader pattern. In Grady County, Chickasha police Lt. Jeremy Markee Alexander, 39, was booked into the Grady County Detention Center following an OSBI investigation, according to okcfox.com. That report said Alexander faced allegations involving child pornography and child abuse, and that investigators also learned he allegedly communicated inappropriately with one juvenile and physically assaulted another.
Separately, former Tulsa County juvenile detention officer Jonathan Hines faced 12 felony charges across five separate cases as of early October, according to kjrh.com. Five victims accused Hines of lewd behavior, and the station reported that the latest case against him alleged he asked a 15-year-old boy in custody what he could give him to touch him sexually.
No court dates, pleas, or case outcomes have been made public in the Starnes case at this time.
