Oklahoma authorities arrested an assistant district attorney Monday for allegedly possessing child pornography.
Kevin Etherington, the 53-year-old first assistant district attorney of Logan and Payne Counties, was arrested in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on one count of aggravated possession of child pornography and one count of violation of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act, according to local media.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipped off the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) in September, which resulted in authorities executing a search warrant at the former district attorney’s home on Monday.
Authorities later transported Etherington to the Payne County Jail.
“I cannot express how dismayed and disappointed I am about this development,” District Attorney Laura Austin Thomas said about the case, according to The Oklahoman. “I personally find the manufacture, distribution, and possession of child pornography to be both disgusting and incredibly damaging to individual victims and society.”
Thomas said authorities terminated Etherington after working in Payne and Logan Counties for eight years.
“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,” Thomas said.
Thomas thanked the OSBI “for their diligence in finding these offenders throughout our state, regardless of who they may be.”
“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.
OSBI authorities said the Payne and Logan Counties district attorney fully cooperated with the police investigation.
