Deputies from the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office are launching a large-scale investigation at the Tulsa Boys' Home after an employee was found with "copious amounts" of child porn.
TCSO's Casey Roebuck said deputy investigators received a tip from the Internet Crimes Against Children, or ICAC, early this week about the possibility of child pornography being posted online from an IP address in Tulsa.
Within a day, deputies had conducted a search warrant and arrested 43-year-old Matthew Whitaker.
"We questioned him, he did not say anything, but there was enough evidence just on his phone alone to warrant him being arrested on child pornography charges," Roebuck said. "Unfortunately we have found thousands of pictures and videos. Some of them very, very young children being abused."
Deputies said they're not sure yet if the photos and videos were taken of local children.
"It is very concerning that he was working with at-risk youth," Roebuck said. "So part of our investigation will be going to the boys' home and conducting and investigation there to try to determine if any of the children he had contact with were victimized."
Officials said they're working to submit the photos and videos to ICAC to see if the images are of known victims within their database.
Roebuck said deputies still have multiple devices to download and look through, as well as several interviews to conduct — so this will be a large-scale investigation that she expects to last for a while.
CEO and executive director of the Tulsa Boys' Home Gregg Conway said in a statement on Wednesday that Whitaker's alleged criminal behavior has nothing to do with the organization and that staff members had no knowledge of any improprieties or criminal wrongdoing.
