Stephens County Deputy Charged with Allegedly Sexually Assaulting 3 Women

By Rusty Surette, NEWS 9

DUNCAN, Oklahoma -- A former Stephens County sheriff's deputy is charged with crimes relating to the alleged sexual assaults of three women.

Stephens County District Attorney Bret Burns confirms Brandon Balthrop is charged with two counts of sexual battery, one count of indecent exposure, one count of kidnapping and one count of first degree rape by instrumentation. Read the full charges (Warning: Contains some graphic language).

Burns said two of the victims were women Balthrop stopped for traffic violations while he was working for the Stephens County Sheriff's Office. He also said the third victim was Balthrop's co-worker when he worked for the Duncan Police Department.

"These are three victims over a three year period," Burns said.

Stephens County Sheriff Wayne McKinney said his office was first alerted to the allegations in July and OSBI was immediately asked to investigate, but Balthrop refused to cooperate. He even walked out on a polygraph test. The sheriff said that was enough to fire him.

"One of the things that I require out of my employees, especially sworn deputies, is that they have to cooperate with an investigation, 100 percent, no questions," said Sheriff McKinney.

Six weeks after OSBI launched its investigation, Balthrop was booked into the county jail.

"It's difficult anytime you have to prosecute a member of law enforcement. It's something that's a necessity in our system," said Burns.

Balthrop's bond is set at $75,000. If convicted on all charges, Balthrop could be facing a life prison sentence without parole.