CLEVELAND COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) – The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics Human Trafficking Unit has arrested a former pastor accused of sending a nude photo of himself to a Kansas teen last year.
James McMillan was arrested December 9.
Last month, News 4 reported on a prior arrest surrounding allegations that he was sexually inappropriate with a child under 16.
News 4 confirmed with at least six independent sources that McMillan was a former pastor at a minimum of two churches in Slaughterville and Konawa. Those sources confirmed McMillan left both churches under strange circumstances several years ago, and hasn’t preached at either location since then. News 4 isn’t identifying them.
The most recent arrest and allegations are tied to an incident in March 2023. Court documents say that a Bel Aire, Kansas, father told an Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics officer in October about the case, a little over a year after he had already filed a police report with his local police department.
Court documents say his daughter came to him and told him about the incident.
"My daughter had came to me and let me know that she had received a nude picture from a grown man," said the victim's father.
He said that his family knew the McMillan's because his daughter and McMillan's son went to school together at one point. The victim told him McMillan would have had to use his son's Snapchat account to look her up by name, due to her security settings. She told him she received a friend request from McMillan and accepted it.
Court documents detail a text message exchange between his daughter and a friend of hers, where the friend accuses McMillan of being a pedophile after the teen said she received the request. The teen said that she would accept the request and screenshot anything that crossed the line, to report it to the police.
After she accepted the request, the victim told her father she received an unsolicited photo of McMillan flexing in a mirror. The victim responded something to the effect of "trying to get them gains." The victim then said she received a follow-up message from McMillan asking her if she might "want to see more."
"He just sent the fully nude picture," said the victim's father. "There was no request or anything like that for it."
The victim then said she took a screenshot of the photo, and that McMillan asked her how old she was. When the victim told McMillan she was a 14-year-old, he blocked her on Snapchat, which erased the message history and pictures he had sent outside of the screenshot.
"She came right to me with this, which we were very grateful for," her father said. "It's something that we really just have to pay attention to, what our kids are doing and what type of platforms they're on."
The father told News 4 his daughter immediately knew what she said McMillan sent her was a crime, and that he had talked to her extensively about the dangers of online predators.
"He's clearly proven that he has a problem with this and won't, you know, won't stop," said the victim's father. "He's somebody that's truly a danger to our society."
Her father said he's also concerned about how long it took for a warrant to be issued for McMillan's arrest in relation to his daughter's year-old accusations.
"It just seemed, it almost seemed like, yeah, we've heard this, we're not going to do anything about it type of thing," said the victim's father.
News 4 reached out to the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office for a comment or interview, but was redirected to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics. A spokesperson declined an interview on the arrests, but shared the following statement from the agency's director.
OBN is grateful to the victim and her family for speaking up and assisting law enforcement throughout this investigation. This is another example of collaborative efforts between law enforcement agencies to protect victims from predatory actions of offenders.
OBN Director Donnie Anderson
While the victim's father is relieved McMillan is back in custody, he said he's worried about potential victims of McMillan, friends or anybody that's come in contact with him over the last few decades.
Documents tied to his arrest in November stated there are multiple documented DHS and law enforcement cases where McMillan is listed as the suspect tied to sexual abuse dating back to 2003.
"We'd encourage you to just to speak up, to get justice for yourself because you deserve it and to help prevent anyone else from getting hurt," said the victim's father when asked what he'd say to any other potential victims. "Speaking up could do that."
The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office wants to hear from any other potential victims. If you or anyone you know has information, you’re asked to contact the office and ask to speak with detective Paulk.
