Wetumka, Oklahoma, a tiny town of around 1,400 residents has been long known for its annual Sucker Day festival, a commemoration turned celebration of the 1950’s swindling of the entire community when a conman promised to bring the circus and ran away with the pre-sold ticket money. And now it seems Sucker Day has been every day for decades for this community, though this time at an incalculable cost for its children.
In 2019, James H. Jackson and Brent A. McGee vied for the town’s top spot of mayor on the Wetumka City Council. McGee, the long-time incumbent, was a local, having worked as the alternative education teacher, athletic director and a multi-sport coach at Wetumka High School (WHS) for many years. Jackson was an Army vet and newcomer to town. Otherwise, they had much in common. Both were observably determined to control everything they could, including the local police department, and both, unbeknownst to many in the community, were sexual predators.
The Incumbent: Brent McGee
As recently reported by The V1SUT Vantage, multiple male victims spanning generations have recently come forward, disclosing molestation by Brent McGee to local, state and federal law enforcement. McGee appears to have orchestrated his life to ensure access to victims through both the Noble and Wetumka school systems.
Link to previous article:
With his wife Donna McGee, superintendent at Wetumka Public Schools (WPS), as his longtime boss, Brent McGee became the head of alternative education where he had control of the town’s most vulnerable boys and faced no accountability for his actions for decades. That all changed when a former Army combat medic and fireman named Casey Yochum took brave steps to address his trauma stemming from McGee’s abuse during his adolescence and has since worked tenaciously to end McGee’s lifetime of sexually abusing boys.
Yochum recorded a conversation in which he confronted McGee in detail concerning the abuse. Not knowing he was being recorded, McGee freely admitted to sexually abusing Yochum (see previous article for audio). The conversation is chilling, as McGee employs flattery, manipulation and guilt to silence his now adult victim. Yochum has continued to release the recording and share his story through social media to encourage and support other victims of McGee in coming forward. Since then, men spanning a 30+ year range in ages have reported abuse by McGee to law enforcement.
The FBI and OSBI are now actively investigating McGee, who was instructed to step down from his positions within public education in August of 2022 during a visit to Wetumka PS by four FBI agents.
McGee was also the longtime mayor and city councilman in Wetumka, giving him considerable influence over local law enforcement.
The Challenger: James Jackson
James and Rebecca Jackson relocated to Wetumka in 2017 with a young woman named Autumn Jackson (previously named Paula Israel) who they had obtained legal guardianship over in Illinois. The Jacksons quickly clashed with McGee’s city council and in 2019, both James and Rebecca ran for city council, publicly focusing their campaign on addressing the town’s budgeting, utility cost and water treatment issues. Despite growing suspicions about James Jackson’s unusual relationship with the young woman he referred to as his daughter, he, his wife and another ally, Randy Hinkley, won three of five city council seats replacing members Brent McGee, Robert Jaggars and Larry Roberts. James Jackson became the town’s mayor.
According to one lifetime resident of Wetumka, “I just think people fell for it (Jackson) because they were sick and tired of Brent McGee running everything for so long.”
During Jackson’s short time as mayor, he moved to abolish the local police force. Within months, it was learned that police from the Jackson’s former town of Fulton, Illinois, had an active warrant for James Jackson’s arrest on two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a minor. On March 26th, James Jackson was arrested in a joint effort involving the FBI, the Hughes County Sheriff’s Department and the Wetumka Police Department. Additional charges were later added that involved child sexual abuse, child pornography and crimes against nature by bestiality.
Jackson has since been convicted on four of those counts, including the child pornography and bestiality offenses, and sentenced to 15 years in prison with 15 additional years of probation.
Rebecca James, a pharmacist, was arrested on April 17th, 2020, convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for her part in the sexual abuse and pornography crimes. Shockingly, she was released on parole in May after serving just eight months of her sentence.
Within her victim’s impact statement, Autumn Jackson (Paula Israel) described horrific and regular sexual abuse and named other victims of James and Rebecca Jackson.
“Please do not make the mistake of underestimating them. Please do not be like Paula, Michelle, Christy, Amber, Preet, Sarah, the original Claire, Aiden, Amelia, Carmen, Layla, Preeti, Rebecca’s sister Anne, Katarina, and hundreds of more victims, including the two babies from Dustin, who could have never said no.”
It is unknown if any of the Jacksons’ crimes involving these other victims have been investigated. James Jackson is now clogging up the appeals court with claims of torture in prison (lack of medical treatment, having to defecate in a bucket and withholding his mail to name a few) which he claims are grounds to declare a mistrial.
Jackson and McGee Used Similar Tactic to Control Victims
As if from a dark cliché, both Jackson and McGee used ice cream (and employment) to lure and control their victims. According to Autumn Jackson (Paula Israel), she and another sexual slave of the Jacksons worked in the family ice cream shop in Illinois. Similarly, the McGee family has operated a Dairy Queen in Wetumka for more than 40 years where many of McGee’s economically disadvantaged victims were employed over several decades.
Slap of Irony from a Fellow Child Molester: McGee Gloats on Social Media as Jacksons are Arrested
In 2020, Brent McGee celebrated publicly when Rebecca Jackson was arrested, posting the charges and claiming the move as “Prayers answered”.
A comment below the post indicates Brent McGee’s perpetration is the best unkept secret in town. James Chavez comments, “When they going to get you (McGee) off the streets it’s been a long long time coming.”
The Bermuda Triangle of Pedophilia: Neighboring Wewoka MS Principal Also Facing Charges for Sexually Abusing Boys
It appears that where the Seminole and Creek Nations meet is indeed a dangerous area for boys in Oklahoma. Just Southwest of Wetumka is Wewoka, where former middle school principal Cody Coy Barlow was caught in the act of sexually abusing a boy in his office on school grounds. Barlow was arrested and is suspected of sexually abusing other boys in his roles as teacher, principal, and coach at Wewoka PS (2012-2022) and as youth pastor at First Baptist Church of Wewoka.
Barlow now faces criminal charges at the state level and a federal lawsuit brought against both himself and Wewoka Public Schools for failing to protect students from abuse by Barlow.
Barlow, McGee and Jackson were all living as heterosexually married men when their abuse of children was revealed publicly.
In Both Wetumka and Wewoka, Public Ed Culture of Protectionism for Staff Allowed Abuse of Boys to Continue and Escalate
Concerning James Jackson, the outsider and non-educator in this trio of serial child sex offenders, local institutions of protection worked quickly to investigate when something didn’t seem right in the relationship between Jackson and his “daughter”. Then police chief Joe Chitwood, who was later arrested for distributing meth, was willing to travel to Fulton, Illinois, to meet with local police about charges pending against Jackson. The same tenacity from local law enforcement did not seem to apply when boys were being molested by men well-established within public education in the area.
According to the federal suit filed against Barlow and Wewoka PS, the school system failed to report Barlow’s previously concerning behavior and continued to provide him with unfettered and unsupervised access to boys, even on overnight and out-of-town trips. The suit specifically outlined Superintendent Dr. Shellie Gammill’s failure to report abuse by Barlow in a timely manner as required under Oklahoma law.
Gammill remains superintendent at the district despite admitting to her knowledge of four or five additional victims prior to the incident that led to Barlow’s arrest. She dutifully indicates her She/Her pronouns on her LinkedIn profile page.
Brent McGee’s reign of abuse extends much longer than Barlow’s, with his wife as everyone’s boss (superintendent) at Wetumka PS. Brent McGee was instructed to step down from all positions at Wetumka PS during a visit to the district by FBI agents on August 9th, 2022. No efforts were made to internally investigate abuse by McGee. The Wetumka School Board has taken no action to ensure the safety of students as the FBI/OSBI investigation moves forward. Concerningly, inside sources continue to report McGee’s presence at the district and on the sideline at a recent football game harassing a current student.
State Board of Education Taking Action Where Districts Fail to Protect
It appears some school districts are either irrationally hesitant to protect boys from male offenders or predisposed to protect fellow educators despite the devastating cost to boys.
This morning, Casey Yochum spoke before the State Board of Education during public comment time, sharing his experience as a victim of Brent McGee and asking the board to revoke the certifications of both Brent and Donna McGee. In the absence of action from Wetumka PS and its board, the State Board of Education had already scheduled to consider the suspension of Brent McGee’s teaching certificate pending further proceedings at today’s meeting.
Sean Cummings, outspoken Democrat advocate, previous political candidate and local restauranteur, also spoke to the board, commending Yochum for speaking out and urging the board to take action against not only offenders such as McGee, but the wives, family members and others in positions of power within public schools who allow known abusers continued access to Oklahoma school children.
This morning, in a unanimous vote following a short executive session, the State Board of Education voted to immediately suspend Brent A. McGee’s teaching certifications through the OSDE.
Boys and Prolific Preferential Child Molesters: Impact on Communities is Enormous
According to Dr. Kelli Palfry, psychologist, author and specialist concerning boys and child sexual abuse, preferential predators who craft their lives to create opportunities to sexually abuse children have common traits:
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long-term, persistent patterns of behavior including elaborate, very well-developed grooming techniques
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more victims with research showing non-incarcerated preferential offenders having, on average, approximately 150 victims each
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engage in abuse more frequently over longer periods of time with average length of sexual abuse in young male victims believed to be approximately 7 years
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less likely to get caught if they prey on boys, as males are far less likely to ever disclose the abuse
According to national statistics, 93% of child victims of sexual abuse know their abuser. The vast majority of predators are not strangers lying in wait on your child’s walk home from school. They are far more likely to be known and trusted caregivers, such as teachers, principals and coaches who sucker parents into believing they are safe to work with their children.
It’s ironic that The Tulsa World featured Brent McGee, just such a preferential predator from within, in a glowing article about Sucker Day.
Report to Law Enforcement: If you are or were a victim of Brent McGee, you are encouraged to contact the US Attorney’s Office at (918) 684-5100 and tell them you want to inquire about the Brent McGee case. They will route you to the appropriate investigator.
Victim Support: Casey Yochum is coordinating a brotherhood of support for victims as they seek justice. “There’s kids, kids in their 20s, kids in their teens that have been affected by this monster…If we save one child it’s worth it, if we save two children, we’re moving mountains,” states Yochum. Contact him by email: caseyyochum@gmail.com.
To report child abuse: If you suspect a child is being abused, you are mandated by Oklahoma law to contact the Statewide 24-hour Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 1-800-522-3511.
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