APACHE, Okla. (KFOR) — A Boone-Apache Middle School coach and teacher is in jail after a 13-year-old student alleged he inappropriately touched her on numerous occasions.
On Friday, Myles Stephenson Jr. was booked into the Caddo County Jail on two charges of Lewd or Indecent Acts to a Minor Under 16.
The affidavit in his arrest alleges Stephenson formed a close relationship with a now-13-year-old middle school student, beginning when she was in sixth grade.
“It will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck,” Apache Police Chief Brynn Barnett told News 4. “You trust administrators and school staff with your children.”
The affidavit describes an incident that happened in Stephenson’s classroom at Boone-Apache Middle School back on Jan. 20.
It says that while he and the 13-year-old student were alone together in the room, Stephenson asked the student “a question about her sock, then began to pull up the pant leg” of the student.
The student told investigators Stephenson then asked her if he could “guess the color of her panties.”
The affidavit goes on to say Stephenson gave the student a $100 bill after the encounter, and promised to buy her pizza.
It also says the girl told investigators she had several similar encounters with Stephenson dating back to when she began sixth grade several years ago.
The affidavit says the student told investigators Stephenson had previously “talked to her about how he sleeps, what he wears to bed, walks around naked.”
She told investigators Stephenson would often ask to hug her, and then inappropriately “pat” her.
The student told investigators this would only happen when she was alone with Stephenson.
“There’s several videos that from camera surveillance that shows interaction between this minor child and Mr. Stephenson on a couple of different occasions being by themselves in a setting that was not appropriate,” Barnett said.
The affidavit says the student told investigators Stephenson would often buy her food after these incidents, as she alleged he did after the Jan. 20 encounter.
Barnett said the student told her family about what happened on Jan. 20, and one of her parents then contacted his department.
He said police have been gathering evidence and conducting interviews since Jan. 20.
The affidavit says Stephenson sent police a letter through his attorney on Jan. 26 in which he wrote “this student is lying in her statement and I have no Idea why this student would make these false claims against me other than she is just craving attention.”
By Friday, Barnett said the District Attorney’s office felt there was enough evidence to charge Stephenson, and authorities arrested him at his home.
Barnett said officers immediately notified Boone-Apache Middle School’s principal and Boone-Apache Public Schools superintendent Todd Vail about the allegations when they learned about them back in January.
Vail sent News 4 the following statement on Friday:
Boone-Apache Public Schools has been made aware of charges brought against a former employee of the district. Upon notification of the original allegations of misconduct, the district immediately placed the employee on administrative leave.
Todd Vail, Superintendent of Boone-Apache Public Schools
Despite that, the school still lists Stephenson as part of their paraprofessional staff on their website.
News 4 asked Vail if the district notified parents about any of it, he did not answer that question.
Stephenson is also a member of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes and serves as the tribes’ secretary.
The tribes released the following statement on Friday:
The Wichita Executive Committee of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco, and Tawakoni) (“Wichita Tribe”) has been made aware of DUI charges and the “lewd or indecent proposals or acts to child” filed on Friday, April 19, 2024 against Myles Stephenson, Jr. Myles Stephenson, Jr. is the Secretary for the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. While these are just charges at this time and Mr. Stephenson has not been convicted, we must take actions that are in the best interest of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. We are still gathering information and will take official actions regarding the Secretary position, upcoming elections where Mr. Stephenson has filed for Secretary and his position on the Wichita Housing Authority. Regardless of the outcome of the charges, the Wichita Executive Committee will take action to protect the Tribe as Mr. Stephenson goes through the court process.
Mr. Stephenson is an enrolled member of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. Please keep Mr. Stephenson, Jr. and all involved in this situation in your prayers. The best thing we can do is pray and not judge. Judgement is for the courts to decide. This will be a tough time for our Tribe. As President, it is my duty to make sure that we address this issue as soon as possible and in the best interest of the Tribe. We will put out another press release regarding the final decisions and actions taken.
Terri Parton, President of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes
