Emma Delaney Hancock (Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation)
A Wellston, Oklahoma, substitute teacher charged with exchanging nude photos and videos of sex acts with a 15-year-old student has been identified as the daughter of the local mayor and the wife of the local police chief.
The criminal probe of Emma Delaney Hancock, 26, is being led by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) due to the fact she is the wife of Wellston Police Chief Alfred Hancock and daughter of Wellston Mayor Paul E. Whitnah, News 9 reported, citing the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. Court records reviewed by Law&Crime confirm that the OSBI is the arresting agency.
The local news outlet reported the suspect began texting the teen boy back in October regarding a school assignment and weeks later reacted to a shirtless photo the teen sent on Snapchat.
“Are we sending half naked pictures now?” she allegedly asked. “I don’t know, are we?” the student apparently answered.
“Are you trying to get me to lose my job?” Hancock allegedly asked.
The substitute teacher reportedly did lose her job and was banned from the Wellston Public Schools campus.
Now the former educator stands accused of exchanging nude images and videos of sex acts with the teen before kissing the student on the mouth at least twice while in a classroom. The teacher allegedly touched the teen boy inappropriately the second time they kissed in school.
Hancock faces four criminal counts, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. The charges include two counts of soliciting sexual conduct or communication with a minor by use of technology and two counts of lewd or indecent acts against a child under 16. In the state of Oklahoma, those are both felonies that would require Hancock to register as a sex offender if convicted as charged.
“A person is guilty of violating the provisions of this section if the person knowingly transmits any prohibited communication by use of any technology defined herein,” the solicitation statute says. “Any violation of the provisions of this section shall be a felony, punishable by a fine in an amount not to exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not more than ten (10) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.”
The felony lewd or indecent acts charges are even more serious, as they are punishable by at least 3 years and up to 20 years in prison.
An affidavit in the case first hit the docket on April 12, last Wednesday. A bench warrant was issued the same day. The next day, Hancock pleaded not guilty alongside her defense attorney Bill Coyle, the docket says.
Her next court appearance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on June 22. Hancock was released on a $50,000 bond; a promise to appear was filed on April 14.
Last September, a former teacher and coach in Tulsa County, about an hour-plus drive away from Wellston, was accused of raping and committing sexual battery against a student while his wife and daughter were out of town — after interacting with the victim on Snapchat. The most recent docket entry in the case against that defendant, Brandon Joe Neal, says a district court arraignment was pushed to 9:30 a.m. on May 15. Neal entered a plea of not guilty in the case in August 2022.
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