CACHE, Okla., (The Oklahoma Post) –June 28, 2025
It started with one teacher trying to do the right thing. It became a case study in how the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), Attorney General Gentner Drummond, State Superintendent Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), Cache school administrators and board members, the Comanche County Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney’s office, local law enforcement, and even the school resource officer (SRO) all failed to act—despite clear evidence of misconduct, abuse, and criminal behavior within Cache Public Schools.
What unfolded was not just a failure of leadership. It was a full-scale collapse of public trust.
The Whistleblower
Veteran agriculture teacher Kelly Jenkins reported what many educators are too afraid to say out loud—allegations of sexual misconduct, financial impropriety, harassment, and retaliation involving fellow teacher Peter Charles Dempsey and the Cache Public Schools administration. The reports were numerous. Jenkins and parents of students submitted more than 48 separate incident reports to OSDE’s Awareity system, backed by parent statements, eyewitness accounts, and detailed documentation. In May 2025, Jenkins submitted a 73-page report outlining multiple potential criminal acts to the OSDE Board, State Superintendent Ryan Walters, and Attorney General Gentner Drummond—along with his communications director, press secretary, and deputy press secretary.
The result?
The Awareity reports triggered only one response: a single phone call to one parent. No follow-up. No investigation. No student interviews by OSDE. No response from Ryan Walters.
Instead, Jenkins was pushed out, publicly targeted, and ultimately fired—what she describes as the result of a calculated campaign of harassment, retaliation, and defamation, orchestrated by Superintendent Chad Hance, school administrators, and the Cache school board. That campaign, she says, was propped up by a Title IX investigation she calls a ‘sham.’
The So-Called Investigation
In November 2023, an ‘independent’ investigation conducted by attorney Christine Taylor—contracted by the school and paid for under the authority of the school board and Executive Director/Superintendent Chad Hance—formally cleared Hance of wrongdoing. The report minimized student complaints, contained more than 25 documented errors, relied on hearsay presented as fact, and distorted key details. Internal records show student witness lists were ignored, and original statements were replaced with vague ‘questionnaires.’ Multiple pieces of evidence were either downplayed or dismissed altogether. Audio recordings exist that directly contradict several of the report’s findings.
Jenkins’ handwritten rebuttals, submitted in the margins of the report itself, were never reviewed or considered.
In one particularly disturbing incident, a stalking complaint was filed against teacher Peter Dempsey that was deemed credible enough for the Comanche County Sheriff to serve a formal protective order—on school property. Still, Dempsey was never placed on administrative leave. OSDE was never notified. No action was taken.
Mandatory Reporting Laws Were Systematically Ignored
Under Oklahoma Statutes Title 10A § 1-2-101, any person who has reason to believe that a child is a victim of abuse or neglect is legally required to report it immediately to law enforcement or the Department of Human Services (DHS). Yet in the Cache case, multiple school administrators and board members received credible allegations—including inappropriate comments, coercive behavior, and the possession of nude photos of former students—and failed to report any of it. Despite the seriousness of these claims, neither the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) nor Attorney General Gentner Drummond has taken action or even contacted Jenkins. That’s not just immoral—it’s illegal.
Retaliation, Bribery, and Boardroom Corruption
Meanwhile, Jenkins was removed from her classroom in the Ag building and relocated to the school cafeteria—without tools, safety equipment, or access to her program’s teaching resources—yet she was still expected to teach Ag Shop, welding, Vet Science and greenhouse production (which are not classes held in an actual classroom). In contrast, Dempsey was moved from the Ag building but was given another classroom in the high school with resources, resources not available to Jenkins after she was moved to the cafeteria. In fact, Jenkins, and her students had to make a 10 minute walk each class period from the cafeteria to the ag shop, greenhouse or animal barns and then make the same 10-minute walk back to the lunchroom at the end of each period.
Meeting records and transcripts show that the Cache School Board repeatedly violated the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act (OOMA)—altering agendas after they were posted, concealing attachments from public view, and even locking the doors to public meetings. In one particularly troubling instance, board member Mitch Dorrell was recorded offering Jenkins ‘money and jobs,’ including ‘the people you’re after and some money,’ and asking, ‘Would that be something you’d listen to?’
Student statements implicating Dempsey were replaced with generic questionnaires. According to Jenkins, this was deliberate—an effort to erase evidence that could trigger liability. Destroying evidence with intent to suppress a crime is a violation of Oklahoma Statutes Title 21 § 455. AG Drummond has taken no steps to intervene or preserve records.
Despite a protective order being served on Superintendent Chad Hance in March 2024, the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) was never notified. Neither OSDE nor the board took any action. Hance remains in power to this day.
Agencies Refuse to Investigate New Evidence
Walters has received every letter, complaint, and exhibit tied to this case. He has said nothing. He has done nothing. His office remains silent. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) has refused to accept any new evidence or additional information related to the case, and Attorney General Drummond’s office has neither investigated nor issued any formal response.
A March 2025 formal complaint letter from Jenkins to the Attorney General outlined new evidence—including video files, sworn affidavits, and witness statements. Former OSBI Agent Joe Kimmons had already been making progress in the investigation, starting in September 2023. But Kimmons was forced to resign after an internal complaint was filed—by yet another former Comanche County officer—cutting the investigation short. OSBI leadership buried the progress. Drummond never reopened it. According to state law (Title 21 § 843.5), failure to act on credible abuse reports is itself a crime. The 20-page complaint and request for action has resulted in no follow-up by any agency.
Jenkins was surveilled, moved to an unfit classroom, given false reprimands, and ultimately fired. Meanwhile, OSDE followed up on only one of more than 48 formal reports. Drummond’s office was copied on all evidence submitted to Ryan Walters with the OSDE and still, no action or attempted contact has been made.
Drummond’s Failure to Act Violates His Constitutional Duty
Under Title 74 § 18b(A)(5), the Attorney General is required to investigate and prosecute official misconduct. In Cache, there was misconduct in the school, the sheriff’s office, the DA’s office, and even OSDE. Drummond has received all of it. He’s done nothing.
A Voice from the Inside: Kelly Jenkins Speaks Out
On June 24, 2025, Kelly Jenkins wrote directly to The Oklahoma Post:
“I was harassed daily, followed, watched on camera with audio and video placed in my classroom without my consent or students parents knowledge/ consent. I was written up for false claims, moved from the Ag building to the cafeteria… all while the teacher I reported kept teaching.”
Despite 14 years of spotless evaluations, she was fired without any legitimate grounds for termination —after she reported a fellow teacher for grooming behavior, sexual harassment, and misuse of state and federal funds. The community backed her. OSDE and the Attorney General have not.
“The corruption within this school administration, school board and this county is disturbing. The OSDE investigator is a Cache graduate, former Lawton police officer and former OSBI agent. The OSDE attorney? He has a practice in Lawton, Ok and serves as Comanche County District Attorney Kyle Cabelka’s General counsel for prosecution of criminal case work as well as provides general counsel for Superintendent Ryan Walters.”
These conflicts aren’t just troubling—they are disqualifying. There is no way to trust an investigation when every agency is tied to the accused.
SYSTEMIC ROOTS: How the State Enables the Collapse
In rural Oklahoma, trust and familiarity can devolve into complicity. School administrators, investigators, and prosecutors are often lifelong residents—school colleagues, former teammates, or next-door neighbors. This proximity has fostered a culture where speaking out can cost careers—and safety. Across multiple districts, including Cache and Woodward, those who reported wrongdoing were punished, while those alleged to be abusers were shielded by the very system meant to hold them accountable.
When the institutions tasked with oversight end up investigating themselves, oversight evaporates. In Cache, the Oklahoma State Department of Education ignored 48 formal reports. The OSBI refused to accept new evidence, claiming it wasn’t their domain. Across the board, AG Drummond deflected or denied responsibility. Even when legislative action was taken—such as Senate Bill 553, aiming to revoke teaching certifications for failure to report abuse—it reveals just how wide the enforcement gap has grown.
Oklahoma’s mandatory reporting laws are robust on paper but ineffective in practice. Countless administrators and educators are guilty of failing to report clear child abuse without any legal repercussions. Not one criminal case has been filed for such negligence. Without enforcement, these laws exist only for show.
Leadership has repeatedly prioritized political theater over safeguarding students. Superintendent Walters has diverted attention to cultural issues—banning books, pushing Bible mandates, and suing universities—while ignoring serious allegations within his own schools. The state’s official stance: protect the image, not the vulnerable.
Oklahoma’s mainstream outlets largely ignored red flags until independent journalists and whistleblowers stepped in. Collaborative investigations by nonprofit outlets like Oklahoma Watch have occasionally broken through, but the critical national and local newsrooms have remained largely silent. It took courageous teachers, parents, and independent media to expose systemic cover-ups.
Patterns Elsewhere: This Is Not Just Cache, Oklahoma
Statewide Context
This isn’t about one rogue teacher or one corrupt school board. This is a statewide structure that protects power and punishes truth. Criminally grotesque stories like this are unfolding in school districts across the state and the silence from those in charge is no accident.
As abuse reports stacked up in districts like Cache, Stillwater, and Woodward, a quieter story was unfolding at the Oklahoma State Capitol—one that may explain why the state’s top education and legal authorities refused to act. At the center of that story is a now-public connection between State Superintendent Ryan Walters, his former legal advisor Jason Reese, and political lobbyist Patrick McFerron, founder of CMA Strategies.
A growing scandal now threatens to implicate Oklahoma’s top education official, a sitting judge, and one of the state’s most influential lobbyists in a web of unethical influence and public deception—all connected to the civil rights and RICO lawsuit Moyer v. Murray. At the heart of the controversy is a secret recording of McFerron, who openly admits to wielding political influence on behalf of Koch Industries, the Oklahoma District Attorneys Association, and other entrenched interests. In the recording, McFerron references direct connections to both Walters and Reese—Walters’ former legal advisor, now a sitting judge in Oklahoma County. Stillwater Public Schools currently falls under the administrative jurisdiction of the Oklahoma State Department of Education—and families allege that oversight is compromised by the placement of Judge Jason Reese, an appointee of Governor Kevin Stitt, to the state’s administrative court system. Multiple families have come forward stating that Stillwater Public Schools are knowingly violating state and federal law, including failing to follow due process in special education and custody-related matters. Parents report that the district has improperly shared confidential or inaccurate student information across state agencies and even through third-party applications, raising serious concerns about FERPA violations, ADA non-compliance, and abuse of state power under color of law.
In Woodward, Oklahoma, a growing scandal has rocked the local education system after multiple whistleblowers came forward alleging a pattern of abuse, retaliation, and administrative cover-ups. At the center of the controversy is Woodward Middle School, where former teacher Benjamin Hall was arrested in January 2024 on seven felony counts of lewd acts with a child, with allegations dating back more than a decade. Despite mounting reports and internal complaints, school officials and state agencies—including the Oklahoma State Department of Education—failed to intervene. Whistleblowers who attempted to report the misconduct say they were silenced, reassigned, or forced out, echoing a disturbing pattern seen in other districts across the state. The Woodward case is now cited in federal civil rights and RICO litigation as evidence of systemic failure to protect students and those who try to speak up.
McFerron’s admissions are deeply troubling. In the audio, he appears to confirm that he worked to advance legislation and policy aligned with the agenda of corporate clients—including anti-ESG initiatives, privatization of public resources, and education-related changes that benefited political allies. This raises serious conflict-of-interest questions, especially given Walters’ history of public fund misuse, ideological targeting of teachers, and improper contracts with outside consultants. It also brings renewed scrutiny to Judge Jason Reese’s impartiality, as he was appointed to the bench shortly after leaving Walters’ administration and now rules on cases that may involve parties aligned with McFerron’s clients.
When Oklahoma political lobbyist Patrick McFerron was asked in a recorded June 2025 phone call about his ties to Superintendent Ryan Walters and attorney-turned-judge Jason Reese, he had a simple answer:
“I don’t work for the State Department of Education,” he said. “And I’ve only met Jason Reese once.”
But that’s not what the public record says.
According to 2023–2024 filings with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, McFerron’s firm CMA Strategies was officially registered as a paid lobbyist for:
- The State Department of Education (OSDE) under Ryan Walters
- The Oklahoma District Attorneys Association
- Koch Industries
Each of these entities is named or implicated in the federal RICO and civil rights lawsuit Moyer v. Murray. That includes OSDE’s role in ignoring more than 48 abuse reports in Cache; the DAs who allegedly helped bury grand jury evidence in Pottawatomie County; and Koch Industries, which is accused of backing public contracts and anti-regulation policy decisions that benefited insiders.
McFerron’s denial wasn’t a misunderstanding. It was a strategic deflection — meant to distance himself from a crumbling wall of secrecy now exposed through federal litigation. He claimed he had “no dealings whatsoever” with Walters or OSDE. But just months earlier, in sworn testimony before the Oklahoma Senate, McFerron accidentally let slip that Jason Reese had been secretly serving as Walters’ interim general counsel — a role OSDE never disclosed and one that funneled nearly $38,000 per month in taxpayer money to Reese’s firm. That bombshell blew apart the illusion of distance.
Spinning Policy and Twisting Arms
Now the picture is clear: McFerron wasn’t just spinning policy for OSDE; he was helping coordinate it, even as he lobbied for agencies and companies under legal scrutiny. At the same time Reese was shaping Walters’ most controversial legal positions — from library censorship lawsuits to teacher retaliation cases — McFerron was advising the same government clients, helping insulate them from public backlash, and testifying on legislation that dovetailed with CMA Strategies’ client goals.
If McFerron was actively managing legislative strategy and advising Walters or Reese while lobbying for the Department of Education and other parties named in cases against the State of Oklahoma or their beneficiaries, that’s not just a bad look — it may be a crime. It points to a coordinated influence operation: policy, lobbying, legal defense, and judicial appointments all tied together through the same names, the same revolving door, and the same silent deals.
And when that coordination means abuse reports are ignored, whistleblowers are fired, and civil rights are violated — it’s not just unethical. It’s racketeering.
This situation isn’t just a political embarrassment, it’s a direct threat to public trust. The Walters–Reese–McFerron triangle and who knows what other public schools or District Attorney, reveals how policymaking, lobbying, and judicial appointments have become entangled in Oklahoma’s broader pattern of government misconduct. Moyer v. Murray documents a RICO enterprise operating across Districts 9, 23, and accross the state where officials colluded to retaliate against whistleblowers, suppress court records, and obstruct justice. That McFerron’s firm represented Koch Industries, the DA’s Council, and other implicated entities adds fuel to the racketeering allegations. Look…Koch is Heritage Foundation and more.
There are also serious concerns that public funds—including COVID-19 relief dollars and education grants—may have been misused or diverted through policies shaped by McFerron and his clients. Walters’ record as Superintendent already faces criticism for awarding unvetted contracts and pushing ideological agendas. The new audio suggests these decisions may have been part of a coordinated effort to benefit corporate interests like Koch, while abandoning families caught in systems of abuse and retaliation.
Judge Reese’s involvement only deepens the crisis. If he was involved in state policy coordination under Walters, and now presides over cases involving those same actors and policies, it raises serious judicial ethics concerns. His name has even surfaced in reports alleging backroom efforts to discredit The Oklahoma Post and influence politically sensitive cases.
The Public Is Lacking Information About Walters and Co.
The public deserves to know how far this influence network reaches. If lobbyists like McFerron manipulated appointments, shaped media messaging, and advised Walters and Reese while lobbying for clients with massive financial interests—that’s not just unethical. It may be illegal.
It shows how state officials, lobbyists, media contacts, and the judiciary may have knowingly or recklessly participated in a coordinated campaign to suppress civil rights, intimidate witnesses, and protect their own power. The federal court—and the U.S. Department of Justice—must take this information seriously.
Based on the audio and lobbying disclosures, McFerron appears to have misrepresented both his role and his affiliations—a red flag in any RICO or corruption case. He claimed in the recording that he “didn’t work for the State Department of Education” and had only passing contact with Jason Reese. But Ethics Commission filings show CMA Strategies actively lobbied for interests tied to state education policy, including the Oklahoma District Attorneys Association and Koch-aligned groups—both named in Moyer v. Murray.
McFerron’s downplaying of his ties to Reese doesn’t hold up. Reese was central to Walters’ legal and policy operations, including censorship policies, teacher crackdowns, and privatization schemes. Insider emails and records suggest McFerron and his Firm was more than just a lobbyist—he may have been a quiet architect of strategy. If he advised on policy while lobbying for entities doing business before the state—and later before courts where Reese now sits—it could breach ethical boundaries and criminal statutes alike.
In short: this isn’t just bad optics. It may be proof of a coordinated influence scheme—one that threatens the independence of Oklahoma’s judiciary and the integrity of its public education system.
In a 2024 Senate hearing, McFerron inadvertently revealed that Reese had been secretly serving as Walters’ “interim general counsel”—a position never disclosed to the public. Reese was paid nearly $38,000 per month in taxpayer funds to lead litigation on:
- School library censorship (e.g., Edmond Public Schools)
- $50,000 signing bonus clawbacks
- Gender identity record policies
Shortly after the arrangement was exposed, Governor Kevin Stitt appointed Reese to the bench in Logan and Payne Counties—jurisdictions now central to the Moyer v. Murray lawsuit.
This isn’t a coincidence—it’s a blueprint. While Walters publicly demanded “transparency,” his agency secretly funneled public funds to political allies and relied on lobbyists to manage the fallout. Meanwhile, reports from whistleblowers like Kelly Jenkins in Cache, or those in Woodward and Stillwater, were ignored, downplayed, or buried entirely.
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Moyer v. Murray alleges this is more than favoritism. It’s organized racketeering—engineered to protect power, silence dissent, and keep the same names in charge from the Capitol to the courthouse.
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Unless federal authorities intervene, more children will suffer. More teachers will be forced out. More truths will be buried.
The time for inaction is over.
Got evidence or inside info?
Email The Oklahoma Post confidentially: editor@theokpost.com
And for the record: unlike the courthouse clique, The Oklahoma Post runs on facts, not dark money.
© 2025 The Oklahoma Post |
(Writing by Robbie Robertson; Editing by Robbie Robertson)
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