McAlester teacher charged with committing 'lewd or indecent acts' to student

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Derrick James, McAlester News-Capital, Okla.
·3 min read
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Mar. 16—A McAlester Public School teacher was charged Monday with committing lewd or indecent acts and making lewd or indecent proposals to a child under 16, according to court documents.

Court documents show Lester Young II, 41, of McAlester, was charged with the two felony counts Monday in Pittsburg County District Court.

On the charge of lewd and indecent acts to a child under 16, Young is accused of knowingly and intentionally feeling the buttocks of a student by grabbing her buttocks during a hug on March 9, 2021.

The charge of lewd and indecent proposals to a child under 16 accuses Young of making an electronically-generated lewd proposal to the child under 16 by requesting a hug on March 9.

Young was given a personal recognizance bond during his Monday initial arraignment with orders to have no contact with the alleged victim or with the school "except to pick up personal items and/or administrative contact," according to court documents.

When asked about the current employment status of Young, MPS Superintendent Randy Hughes said he could not comment on ongoing personnel matters.

A probable cause affidavit filed in the case states police were called to the school for an alleged "sexual assault not in progress."

MPS Security Officer Jeremy Busby told officers that a student reported to teachers that she was sexually assaulted by another teacher and that she also received messages from Young, the affidavit states.

After the allegations were told to McAlester High School administration, the child's mother was notified along with the McAlester Police Department, according to the report.

According to the affidavit, the alleged victim told investigators she began having "casual conversations" with Young on social media in February and that there were times when Young would "pull her ponytail while he was walking past her if he thought she wasn't paying attention in the class."

The alleged victim told officers Young messaged her on March 7 asking if "there was an alley behind her house" and after she replied "yes," Young allegedly replied "cool, kinda wanted to drive by" with the alleged victim telling the officer that question Young asked about the alley "creeped her out," the report states.

When she told Young that she was walking to the tennis courts, Young asked if she was alone with the girl saying that she was and after she sat on the bleachers, she saw Young's vehicle pulled up with him messaging the girl that she looked "cute," the affidavit states.

Officers wrote in the report the girl told investigators she started to walk home and Young followed her before giving her a hug with a hand on her back and the other on her behind before squeezing.

Later on that evening, the girl said Young messaged her that her behind "felt so good thank you for the hug" with the girl replying "ur welcome," the report states.

Investigators also wrote in the report that they gathered statements from two students "who noticed something going on" between Young and the girl along with statements from school administrators.

Court records show Young is represented by local attorney J. Michael Miller with a disposition docket scheduled for April 16, 2021 at 9 a.m.

Contact Derrick James at djames@mcalesternews.com

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