A Tulsa County judge rules in former assistant principal Robert Yerton’s preliminary hearing that he will stand trial on child sex crimes. Yerton who was the assistant principal at Skelly Elementary is accused of abusing his adopted son and three other students.
FOX23’s Abbie Alford was in the courtroom to report on this developing story.
Yerton’s defense attorney Richard O’Carroll says Yerton remains innocent.
The former Tulsa Public School’s administrator is charged with three counts of child molestation and two counts of child sex abuse.
He is accused of molesting a six-year-old boy in his Skelly Elementary office, an eight-year-old also at the school and a 7-year-old boy in the bathroom at Disney Elementary.
He is also accused of sexually abusing a male relative in his home on multiple occasions.
During the three-day preliminary hearing the judge heard testimony from the alleged victims, some of their parents, child forensic experts and the school counselor.
O’Carroll told the court the whistleblower, the school counselor, “is waving a bloody red shirt saying Yerton is a child molester in front of FOX23.”
FOX23 News has not spoken with the counselor, however, FOX23 News has exclusively spoken with one of the parents of an alleged victim.
Court documents show the counselor reported her suspicions to the administrators and one of the alleged victims about Yerton’s alleged inappropriate touching with the student.
O’Carroll believes Yerton was denied the opportunity to call more witnesses so he wants a new preliminary hearing and new judge.
Yerton will be in court on August 23rd.
Yerton was with TPS for 17 years and resigned from the District in June. He remains out of custody on $150,000 bond.
