OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Two members of the Oklahoma State Board of Education told FOX23 News they saw sexually explicit images of naked women on a TV screen connected to a computer inside State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ office during an executive session on Thursday.

Board members Becky Carson and Ryan Deatherage said they were in Walters’ office when the images popped up mid-discussion on a TV screen that began playing videos of naked women.

“I can confirm I saw nude women,” Deatherage said. 

“I was appointed to the State Board of Education to serve Oklahoma students to the best of my ability. The images that board members were exposed to yesterday in this meeting were shocking and at the very least inappropriate. There has to be accountability,” Carson said in a statement to FOX23.

The board members were in executive session when the incident happened. When they exited executive session Thursday afternoon, none of them went public with what they saw until after the meeting was finished.

Board member Chris Van Dehende tells FOX23 News the TV was on in Walters’ office, but he never looked at it because it usually is just playing the cable TV network FOX News.

However, Van Dehende says Carson and Deatherage told him about their concerns about sexually explicit images being on the TV screen, and he believes them about what they witnessed.

The fourth board member in attendance at Thursday’s meeting, Mike Tinney, said Carson and Deatherage are telling the truth, and that sexually explicit images were seen on a TV screen in the Superintendent’s office during executive session.

An Oklahoma State Department of Education spokesperson said they would not comment on the allegations to FOX23 News. When contacted for comment by two Oklahoma City media outlets about the allegations, an OSDE spokesperson referred to the claims as “fake news.”

On Friday, Walters responded to the allegations with the following statement:

“Some of these board members are blatantly dishonest and cannot hide their political agenda. It is disappointing that they are more interested in creating distractions than getting work done for Oklahoma families.”

The other two members of the board, Sarah Lepak and Zachary Archer, were not present at Thursday’s meeting.

The allegations are particularly shocking because they involve a public official who has made public statements for years that Oklahoma’s public schools have an issue with rampant nudity and explicit sexual images in their libraries and classrooms.

Walters has campaigned by saying there is porn in the classroom and he is the one who will get rid of it. Walters has also called teachers “perverts” and has actively worked to rapidly revoke teaching certificates from any teacher who has ever been in trouble with the law or even accused of wrongdoing in certain situations.

Sometimes, teachers have complained they have been denied proper due process by Walters before their certificates were suspended.

“As an appointed member of the Oklahoma School Board, it is my top priority to protect the well-being of Oklahoma students. We hold educators to the strictest of standards when it comes to explicit material. The standard for the superintendent should be no different,” Deatherage told FOX23 in a statement.

Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) called for a thorough investigation into the situation to take place immediately.

“These are serious allegations made by two members of the State Board and an expeditious third-party review is warranted. I urge the State Superintendent to unlock and turn over all relevant devices and fully cooperate with an investigation. If no wrongdoing occurred, a prompt and transparent review should quickly clear his name.”

Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle) and Senate Education Committee Chairman Adam Pugh (R-Edmond) released a joint statement on the allegations saying:

“This is a bizarre and troubling situation that raises serious questions about the events and what took place during yesterday’s executive session at the Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting,” Paxton stated. “The accounts made public by board members paint a strange, unsettling scene that demands clarity and transparency. Senator Pugh and I appreciate the quick action by OMES to help coordinate through this situation to get details on exactly what happened. More transparency is essential before strong conclusions can be drawn.”

“The reports coming out of Thursday’s Board of Education meeting raise a number of questions,” Pugh stated. “This is a situation that warrants further explanation and transparency. Additionally, Superintendent Walters and those making the allegations deserve to be heard and give their side of the story. I appreciate the efforts by everyone who are taking these allegations seriously. We’ll be watching closely as more information comes to light.”

House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson (D-Oklahoma City) also responded to the claims in a statement:

“My main concern has always been and will remain on Oklahoma parents, teachers, and students and their right to free, quality public education,” Munson stated. “Anything that threatens to infringe on that right will be pushed back on, just as House Democrats have done in the past with several efforts to investigate the State Superintendent. Regardless of if recent allegations are true, Oklahomans are in dire need of new leadership at the Oklahoma State Department of Education. While we wait for more information, we will follow the guidance of the Speaker and trust that any alleged moral or criminal wrongdoings will be thoroughly investigated.”

While responding to other media outlets, Walters said the board members were appointed by Governor Kevin Stitt, who earlier this year replaced a majority of the board of education, and they don’t like him anyways.

Walters said on FOX23 last month, the two had a major falling out over green energy policies.

Stitt told FOX23 he was disappointed in the state’s education rankings, and the new board needed to focus less on political stunts and more on reading and math.

Stitt said in a statement about the allegations against Walters:

“I trust and appreciate my board members. They are volunteers who are sacrificing their time to serve Oklahoma students. Should these allegations be true, all I can say is that I am profoundly disappointed,” Stitt said.

On Sunday, Superintendent Walters released a second statement addressing the accusations made by the school board members.

“As I lead the charge for a bold overhaul of education in Oklahoma, putting parents back in control, rejecting radical agendas, and demanding excellence: it’s no surprise to face politically motivated attacks. 

Any suggestion that a device of mine was used to stream inappropriate content on the television set is categorically false. I have no knowledge of what was on the TV screen during the alleged incident, and there is absolutely no truth to any implication of wrongdoing.

These falsehoods are the desperate tactics of a broken establishment afraid of real change. They aren’t just attacking me, they’re attacking the values of the Oklahomans who elected me to challenge the status quo. 

I will not be distracted. My focus remains on making Oklahoma the best state in the nation, in every category."about