Norman Man Accused Of Molesting Children He Fostered

A former director of children's ministries at a Norman church is accused of molesting children he had been fostering over the past few years, according to court documents.

Christopher Fourcade, 45, faces four counts of lewd acts with a child and two counts of possession of child pornography. Norman Police said they arrested him Thursday evening.

Fourcade had been fostering a child under the age of 12 and their siblings since Dec. 22, 2022, according to an affidavit signed by a detective with the Norman Police Department. Prior to that, he had been a foster parent to other children who he also allegedly molested, the court document said.

The child called their mother on Dec. 28, telling her that Fourcade molested them, the affidavit said. The mother then called Oklahoma Human Services, police and a sexual abuse hotline.

Officers went to Fourcade's home and found multiple cameras inside, including one in his bedroom, the affidavit said. Police obtained a warrant to seize the cameras and other electronic devices. 

The detective who signed the affidavit then sat-in on interviews conducted with the child and their siblings—who were taken to a child advocacy center by Oklahoma Human Services. 

The child said they went into Fourcade's bedroom because they wanted him to help them with a broken toy bear. Fourcade responded that he could not help, but did say the child could lie in his bed with him and watch TV, the affidavit stated. The child said they fell asleep and when they woke up, Fourcade's hand was touching them underneath their underwear, according to the affidavit. The child said they pretended to be asleep because they were scared.

The child said once Fourcade fell asleep, they left his bedroom and called their mother, said the affidavit.

In an interview with the investigating detective, Fourcade claimed that once the child was asleep, he carried them back to their room, according to the affidavit. When asked about the cameras in his home, he said they were for security, but claimed the cameras did not record between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., the affidavit said.

The detective then searched the digital downloads from Fourcade's devices and found nude photos of two other kids who were Forecade's foster children from Sept 4, 2020, through May 28, 2022, the affidavit stated. Both children were younger than 12 at the time. The photos showed the children nude in a bathtub. In one of the live photos, a voice that sounded like Fourcade could be heard saying it was time to turn off the water, according to the affidavit.

In addition, the detective found other photos of the two children sitting on what appeared to be Fourcade's living room couch. The pictures appeared to be focused in the area of the children's genitals and the children did not appear to be aware that they were being photographed, the affidavit said. There were also photos of the two children sleeping in what appeared to be Fourcade's bed, the document stated. Furthermore, the detective found images from Fourcade's interior cameras showing the suspect sitting on his recliner with a partially-nude child in front of him or standing between his legs, the affidavit said.

The detective found nude photos of the two children on Fourcade's phone as well, according to the affidavit.

Those two children went to a child advocacy center on May 18 and said they slept in Fourcade's bed with him while he was their foster father for about a year and a half, the affidavit said. The children said when they woke up, they would find Fourcade touching them underneath their underwear, according to the document. The children said Fourcade told them there were demons in his house, but not in his bedroom, in an apparent effort to convince them to sleep with him, the affidavit said.

The investigating detective said she searched the phones of the two children and learned that Fourcade stayed in contact with them, offering to buy them gifts and asking them to communicate with him, the affidavit said.  

One message showed Fourcade encouraging the children to move to Norman with their mother for a fresh start, the affidavit stated. The mother told the detective that Fourcade was offering her financial assistance to convince her to move to Norman, the document continued.

The mother also told the detective that on two occasions, she saw inappropriate behaviors while visiting Fourcade's home, including around Christmas 2021, when she saw her children in Fourcade's bed, the affidavit said. During another visit, she saw her children with Fourcade in his living room, with one of the children being partially nude. The mother claimed she reported both incidents to Oklahoma Human Services, the affidavit said.

Oklahoma Human Services sent the following statement to News 9:

"Nothing is more important to Oklahoma Human Services than children’s safety and wellbeing, particularly when they are in out-of-home care. Our foster parents are held to high standards and asked to selflessly serve the children placed into their care. These allegations go against the very tenets of foster care which are to provide a safe and nurturing temporary home for children.

"Mr. Fourcade became a foster parent in April 2019. While this is an ongoing investigation and state and federal confidentiality laws prevent us from discussing the specifics of this case, we must reassure the public that we are fully cooperating and jointly investigating with law enforcement to understand the facts of this case. Additionally, the children placed with Mr. Fourcade were immediately removed upon learning of these allegations"

Fourcade previously worked as the director of children's ministries at First Christian Church in Norman and his name has since been taken off the church's website.

Rev. David Spain with First Christian Church released the following statement:

"The church is aware of the arrest of Chris Fourcade. He is no longer employed by the church. While the investigation and arrest does not focus on any children from the church, our staff is fully committed to the truth, and is fully cooperating with any requests regarding the investigation. It is the church's practice to never have adults alone with children, and we remain vigilant in that practice."