Allegations against Okay teacher turned over to FBI

Mar. 25—Federal law enforcement officials said they were "actively working" Thursday to gather information about a former Okay High School teacher accused of surreptitiously capturing images of an underage girl preparing to shower at his home.

Okay Public Schools Superintendent Pete Hiseley said Travis Sloat resigned Wednesday, after a student purportedly visiting Sloat's Fort Gibson home made the allegations against him.

Fort Gibson Police Chief Rob Frazier said all the information has been turned over to the FBI because of the McGirt ruling, a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision that requires federal prosecution of certain crimes that occur on Indian land. Frazier said he believes the student is an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe, and the alleged events occurred within the Cherokee Nation's 14-county reservation.

Rukelt Dalberis, public information officer for the FBI Field Office in Oklahoma City, said the agency is aware of the allegations against Sloat. He said agents "are actively working to uncover additional details," but no further information was available Thursday afternoon.

Frazier and Hiseley declined to discuss details of the case. Attempts to contact Sloat were unsuccessful.

Hiseley, reading from a prepared statement during a telephone interview, said Okay Public Schools "does everything it can to protect our students."

"We were troubled by allegations about an incident that happened outside of the school setting in regards to an employee and a student. We immediately turned this concern over to law enforcement. The employee has since resigned," Hiseley said.