CLAREMORE, OK – A Rogers County woman pleaded guilty today in federal court for producing child pornography involving her young child, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
Brittney Jo Wallace, 29, of Claremore, pleaded guilty to production of child pornography by a parent. Wallace admitted that she had the toddler touch her in a sexually explicit manner while she took photos using her cell phone on Sept. 26, 2015. Chief U.S. District Judge John E. Dowdell set sentencing for July 29, 2021.
“Detectives and agents with OSBI’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit and Tulsa’s Homeland Security Investigations Child Exploitation Task Force doggedly pursue individuals, like Brittney Wallace, who harm the most innocent and vulnerable among us,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “This office and our law enforcement partners will continue our critical work to protect Oklahoma’s children.”
In 2016, Wallace’s children were taken from the home after a doctor found signs of severe child abuse. The defendant’s parental rights were later terminated. During the 2016 investigation conducted by the state of Oklahoma, authorities seized the defendant’s phone which was later suppressed. Recently, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals found the seizure and subsequent search of her phone were proper, and the phone was turned over to investigators. When authorities conducted a forensic examination of the phone, they discovered the child pornography.
On March 1, 2021, the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Wallace on a federal arrest warrant. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Rogers County Sheriff’s Office, and Claremore Police Department conducted the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matilda M. Villalobos and Christopher J. Nassar are prosecuting the case. AUSA Villalobos is a prosecutor from the District of New Mexico. She volunteered to assist prosecution efforts here in the Northern District of Oklahoma due to increased jurisdictional responsibilities regarding crimes involving Native American victims or defendants and that occur within the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Cherokee Nation Reservations.