By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
A Yukon man has been accused of possessing/procuring juvenile pornography in an investigation by the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office.
Michael Andrew Lusk, 55, was charged with the felony crime May 13 in Canadian County District Court. If convicted, he faces not more than 20 years in prison and/or a maximum $25,000 fine.
Assistant District Attorney Austin T. Murrey alleges Lusk violated state law “by willfully possessing multiple articles of child pornography in digital image format.”
Lusk was booked May 6 into the Canadian County Jail before formal charges were filed.
That morning, Lusk allegedly admitted to a Canadian County sheriff’s investigator he had possessed and emailed photos and videos containing child pornography.
Allegations against the Yukon resident are detailed in a probable cause affidavit signed by Sgt. David Cates.
The Canadian County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation into Lusk after receiving a “cybertip” from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Files of apparent child pornography were allegedly stored and emailed from a Lusk’s Yahoo account.
SEARCH IS ON
At about 9:15 a.m. May 6, the Canadian County sheriff’s investigator served a search warrant at Lusk’s apartment in the 600 block of W Vandament to collect all electronic storage devices belonging to the defendant.
A forensic investigator also was there to perform preliminary investigations of the electronic devices, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Sgt. Cates examined 23 photos/videos referred by Yahoo showing girls ages 4-13 “being posed in the nude” or “provocatively in underwear”, the affidavit shows.
The sheriff’s investigator agreed this was apparent child pornography and placed the media files in evidence. He is a member of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force.
More images containing child pornography were allegedly found on Lusk’s personal LG cell phone.
The defendant is due to appear at a preliminary hearing conference on June 1 before Canadian County Special Judge Khristan K. Strubhar. His attorney is public defender Karla Tankut.
