A former Bixby High School teacher has been sentenced to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges related to filming videos up students' skirts.
46-year-old Jason Byrd, of Jenks, also must serve 15 years of supervised release following his prison sentence, according to a Thursday order from U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell. He also must pay restitution to one victim and $5,000 to a child pornography victims' assistance fund.
"Jason Byrd’s despicable crimes violated the trust of the Bixby community and the students he served,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma Clint Johnson in a statement. “Two young people are to be commended for their roles in helping to bring this defendant to justice- the young man who saw and reported the crime and the identified victim who bravely spoke at today’s sentencing. I am proud of their courage. They, along with law enforcement and federal prosecutor Chris Nassar, stopped Byrd from continuing his predatory acts against countless students at Bixby High.”
In a news release, prosecutors quoted the unnamed victim as testifying: "I was raised my entire life thinking school was a safe place where I could grow and prosper. He took away my love for school and my trust for people of higher authority.”
Prosecutors said Byrd admitted to having taken more surreptitious videos beyond the one he was witnessed taking, and also that he admitted to destroying evidence.
Byrd, a Cherokee Nation citizen, was prosecuted in federal court due to the state of Oklahoma lacking jurisdiction over certain crimes involving Native Americans in Indian Country. Bixby High School is located on the Muscogee Nation reservation.
