Emma Delaney Hancock, Wellston, Oklahoma former substitute teacher sentenced to 4 years jail for soliciting sex from 15 year old teen student, with educator insisting boy was lying about back and forth communication, which authorities recovered on social media, including naked pictures and lewd video.
An Oklahoma mayor’s daughter and the wife of a prominent police chief has been sentenced to four years jail after the former substitute teacher was found guilty of soliciting sex from a 15 year old student she taught.
Emma Delaney Hancock, 28, was on Wednesday ordered to serve four years of a six years jail sentence after previously being found guilty on two counts of soliciting sex with a minor through the use of technology according to Wellston prosecutors.
Hancock who is the daughter of Wellston Mayor Paul Whitnah, is married to Wellston Police Chief Alfred Hancock, with whom she shares two children with, KFOR reported.
‘Are we sending half-naked pictures now?’
Hancock, a then 26 year old substitute teacher in Wellston, began talking to the then-15-year-old boy on Oct. 6, 2022, after the student put his number into her phone after saying ‘he needed help with an assignment’.
Hancock sent a friend request to the minor later that night, with the teacher and student beginning a conversation for several weeks.
The messages between teacher and student soon turned lewd — when the teen — who remains unidentified, sent a shirtless pic to Hancock over the social media app.
‘Are we sending half-naked pictures now?’ Hancock responded.
The teen replied: ‘I don’t know, are we?’
‘Are you trying to get me to lose my job?’ Hancock allegedly said according to KFOR.
Wellston teacher adamant that she would not get in trouble sexting teen student
The pair then shared naked photos and sexually explicit videos, the student told investigators in November 2022, KOKH reported, citing an arrest affidavit.
The student alleged that he and Hancock, on two occasions, met in the classroom the then-26-year-old was subbing in and ‘made out’ inside a closet during the teen’s lunch, claiming the teacher groped him at least once.
The teen claimed Hancock would also allow him to take hits from her vape pen.
Rumors began to spread about the illicit relationship after the boy reportedly told one of his friends, who then confronted Hancock.
The educator initially denied any wrongdoing but then allegedly admitted to the inappropriate behavior, saying it would ‘not amount to anything because they were not going to get caught.’
Authorities obtained a search warrant for Hancock’s Snapchat account and discovered videos of the classroom incidents.
She turned herself in on April 13, 2023.
Wellston, Oklahoma sub teacher denies doing anything wrong
During the trial, Hancock’s husband, Alfred Hancock, testified in support of his wife, saying he believed she didn’t do anything wrong.
‘She looked me dead in the eyes and said, there’s nothing [on her phone]. I mean, I believe that there’s nothing there,’ the police chief told jurors in October according to NonDoc.com. ‘She’s my wife. I believe her. I’m on her side.’ (but is she on her husband’s side?)
Hancock, who goes by Delaney, denied she did anything wrong, insisting the teen was lying, with the educator claiming she never sent or received any sexual messages to or from the boy.
Despite the existence of electronic proof of back and forth messages, video and images, Hancock was only found guilty of two of the five charges she’d faced, when a jury convicted the former teacher late October.
She was acquitted of two charges of ‘lewd or indecent acts to (a) child under 16,’ and one of ‘soliciting sexual conduct or communication with (a) minor by use of technology.’
Lincoln County District Judge Sheila Kirk sentenced Hancock on Wednesday to six years in prison, three for each charge.
The convicted felon will only have to serve four years behind bars if she adheres to the sentence, KOKH reported.
Along with the prison time, Hancock will have to register as a sex offender.
The teen had reportedly turned to online schooling after his relationship with Hancock and the subsequent trial led to the teen boy being traumatized.
‘It’s just too much,’ one of the teen’s family members told KFOR. ‘So, he’s going to go back online. So, his entire high school years were online. So, we missed all that. The sports events, the prom, walking across the stage.’
Not immediately clear is what led to the female teacher abusing her position of authority, trust and power and subjugating her teen male victim…
Hancock is also facing a civil lawsuit filed by the victim’s family, according to News9.
