FBI, DOJ investigates abuse at McCurtain County jail
By Erin Christy
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MCCURTAIN COUNTY, Oklahoma (KJRH) — New court documents show the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into at least three former employees of the McCurtain County jail.
The investigation stems from a civil lawsuit alleging a man named Roper Harris was brutally beaten inside the jail in September of 2021.
Harris claims McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy, investigator Alicia Manning, and Richard Williamson arrested him at his home over a protective order violation.
Harris believes the former jail administrator, Scott McLain, ordered the arrest and subsequent attack because Harris was involved with his stepdaughter.
The suit claims that once inside the jail, Harris was shoved down a flight of stairs and sustained multiple injuries when staff allowed other inmates to beat him. The suit also claims he was denied medical treatment.
This week, a judge dismissed the McCurtain County Board of County Commissioners, Clardy, Manning, and Williamson, from the lawsuit.
However, the McCurtain County Jail Trust, a former jail administrator, and employees are still listed in the lawsuit.
Court documents show at least three of them are under investigation by the FBI and DOJ. The target letters are included as court exhibits.
The lawsuit is one of many doled out to outgoing Sheriff Clardy and the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office. Clardy recently lost the primary for re-election.
He and Manning still face a defamation suit by former McCurtain Gazette reporter Chris Willingham. His lawsuit against them claims Clardy and Manning were falsely accusing Willingham of being a child predator.
The suit was filed last year, but it did not stop additional accusations that have recently been added to the lawsuit as an amended complaint.
In May, in a Facebook post, Clardy urged the media to publicize egregious allegations about Willingham, who has never been arrested or faced criminal charges related to the claims that the suit calls “tortious and defamatory.”
After investigating and reporting on alleged corruption at the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office for months, Willingham told 2 News last year that due to harassment and fear for his family, they moved out of the area.
One of his investigations included an audio tape of several elected officials, including Clardy and Manning, littered with flagrant racism and talks of killing the Willingham family.
The news spread nationally and Governor Kevin Stitt called for resignations. Ultimately, Attorney General Gentner Drummond said he found no legal grounds to oust Clardy.
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