A Yukon man has been arrested after a girl told her counselor that he touched her inappropriately during a walk last summer. The counselor notifiedthe girl's parents, who then contacted law enforcement.
Canadian County Sheriff's deputies arrested Corban J. Price, 42, after interviewing him about the allegations against him. They say Price admitted to theincident the girl described, in which he allegedly fondled her during a neighborhood walk.
However, investigators claim that Price was not done with his confessions. They say he also admitted to forcing a young girl to touch his genitals, forcinga girl into a closet at church and molesting her, and crawling into bed with a girl and "forcing her to make out with him."According to law enforcement, the suspect said that he was "attracted to" young girls. They say that a girl involved in one of the allegations is asyoung as 11 years old.
Two children living in Price's home were taken into protective custody by DHS, and the man was booked into the Canadian County Jail on $100,000. He ischarged with two counts of lewd acts with a child under 16, but prosecutors say more charges may be filed as the investigation continues.
Lewd or Indecent Proposals or Acts to a Child Under 16 (21 O.S. � 1123) isa Level III sex offense. It is a felony sex crime requiring lifetime sex offender registration and a prison sentence of 3 to 20 years. However, ifthe act involves a child under 12, the associated sentence is 20 years to life in prison.
This year, the state legislature approved Senate Bill 637, and Governor Mary Fallin signed it into law. This law amends the Oklahoma rape statute and lewdacts statute in order to add another category of people legally prohibited from sexual relations with each other.
Added to Section 1111, the definition for rape, is sexual intercourse "[w]here the victim is nineteen (19) years of age or younger and is in the legalcustody of a state agency, federal agency or tribal court and engages in sexual intercourse with a foster parent or foster parent applicant."
Similarly, added to the definition of lewd acts with a child under 16 is sexual contact "committed upon a person who is nineteen (19) years of age or youngerand is in the legal custody of a state agency, federal agency or a tribal court, by a foster parent or foster parent applicant."
This amendment, which takes effect November 1, 2015, strengthens existing laws by prohibiting even "consensual" sexual contact between a foster parentand a teen over the age of consent, which in Oklahoma is 16. A person can be prosecuted for having consensual sex with a foster child, even if thatchild is a legal adult aged 18 or 19.
