(Editor’s note: The following article discusses child sexual abuse.)
MCALESTER — A former prison chaplain for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections received a suspended sentence Wednesday for possessing child sexual abuse material after his state-issued laptop was flagged for discussions of sexual “fantasies” involving his minor children.
David Prince, 42, was charged Nov. 7, 2023, in Pittsburg County District Court with two felony counts — one for procuring, producing, distributing or possessing juvenile pornography, and another for violating Oklahoma’s computer crimes statute.
But more than two years after the case was filed, District Attorney Chuck Sullivan offered Prince a plea deal that dismissed computer crimes charge and amended the first charge to the of felony of possessing child pornography.
Prince pleaded no contest, and Associate District Judge Tim Mills gave the former pastor a 10-year suspended sentence Wednesday, along with a $500 fine. Beyond asking Prince if he accepted the terms of the agreement, Mills spoke little and offered no explanation for his sentencing decision. Asked about the case, both Sullivan and Prince’s attorney, Paul Northcutt, declined to comment.
Prince will be supervised by ODOC for two years and was ordered to register as a sex offender.
Prince had been employed as a full-time chaplain for ODOC and was assigned to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He was terminated from his position at OSP and removed from his position as an associate pastor at Northgate Baptist Church in McAlester at the time after he was charged in 2023.
Court records show Prince entered and completed a nine-month residential program through Pure Life Ministries prior to his Feb. 4 sentencing hearing. According to a letter sent to the court, the program exists to “serve Christian individuals and organizations dealing with sexual sin throughout the world by providing biblically-based counseling, teaching resources and a public speaking ministry with the goal of leading Christians to victory over sexual sin through a deeper life in God.”
Prison chaplain case lingered for two years
According to an affidavit filed in the case, the Oklahoma Counter Terrorism Intelligence Center alerted authorities to possible criminal activity involving Prince after a monitoring software flagged his state computer usage. The state deploys programs that track employee activity, which analysts review before forwarding concerns to agencies or law enforcement.
Investigators placed additional monitoring on Prince’s account after he allegedly viewed pornography repeatedly and engaged in explicit chats.
In an Oct. 31, 2023, conversation on Reddit, using the user ID u/daveatbigmac, Prince claimed he and his wife engaged in sexual acts with his children, the affidavit states. Analysts recorded Prince using two monitors — one for work and another to search for pornography and discuss sexual contact with his children.
“One such conversation where Prince was communicating back and forth with user ‘triallkkj’ he was at the same time on the other screen communicating with another DOC employee by the name of Wade Scott, asking Scott when doing clergy for an inmate which forms he needed to send to the warden,” the affidavit states.
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents began investigating Prince for possible possession of child sexual abuse material and child molestation. They served search warrants at Prince’s residence and for his cell phone Nov. 6, 2023. Prince was home and provided the phone and passcode, the report states.
“The phone was then handed off to OSBI forensic analysts who did an on-scene preview of the phone,” the affidavit states. “During the on-scene preview of the phone, they discovered several images that would meet the legal definition of child sexual abuse material.”
One such recovered image depicted sexual abuse of a child as young as 10, according to the affidavit.
Prince agreed to speak with investigators and admitted he had viewed child sexual abuse material in the past “but never actively searched for it,” according to the report. He denied having sexual contact with his children and said the conversations “were only fantasy.”
