"Bad Teachers" Episode Seven: Emma Delaney Hancock

0:18 Hey everyone, and welcome back to Exposed Scandalous Files of the Elite. I'm your host, Jim Chapman, and today we are back with the seventh installment in our Bad Teachers series, and I'm taking you to Oklahoma for this one in the Welston School District to tell you the story of Emma Dulaney Hancock and her alleged relationship with a fifteen year old student in her role as a substitute teacher. So, Emma Hancock, she was twenty six years old when these allegations I'm about to tell you about surfaced. And originally when these allegations came out, the investigation was being led by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and not the local police. Why you may ask, Well, it was due to the fact that she was the wife of the Wellston police chief and the daughter of the town's mayor, if you can imagine that. Obviously a major conflict of interest there. So the state's investigative unit took over the case. Physically, very attractive woman, long blond hair, and like most of them,

1:48 we cover beautiful. So let's get into what was alleged. Now. On November third of twenty twenty two, a fifteen year old student's father receives a call from the principal of Wellston Public Schools and he asked the father if they could meet to discuss some concerns that a teacher was having an inappropriate relationship with his son. Couldn't imagine getting that call. So the father meets with the principal and the principal explains that a teacher reported to him that some students have brought up to that teacher the fact that the relationship was taking place. So the principal starts investigating this and he tells the father, I have some surveillance videos of the hallways of the school building and I want to show you something that's concerning.

2:53 Now. They look at the surveillance videos and in one of the videos, you can see the student go into the classroom where Miss Hancock was substitute teaching. At this time. It was lunchtime. She was in that classroom alone, and that student did not emerge from that classroom until forty five minutes later. So, after viewing the video, the father goes home and he speaks with his son, and the fifteen year old tells the father that he and Hancock were in fact having a relationship. So the father tells his son to define what he considers a relationship, and the son states that he and the teacher would quote touch each other in a sexual manner. Then the student gets into specifics of what would happen at school, saying that the relationship initially started when Hancock and the student began communicating over tech regarding a schoolwork assignment. Later, things escalated when on Snapchat, the student posted a picture of himself and he didn't have his shirt on. He was in the baseball locker room for the baseball players, and Emma Hancock replies to that snapchat by saying, are we sending.

4:25 Half new pictures? Now? So the fifteen year old does what probably most fifteen year old males would do when it's a beautiful teacher like this. The fifteen year old response, I don't know, are we, to which Hancock replies, are you trying to get me to lose my job? And this is important that reply, because that statement right there proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hancock knew the communication was inappropriate. Now that may seem like common sense, really it is common sense, but that statement right there clearly indicates she knew she could lose her job for communicating with him like that. There's no way she can deny that, right.

5:13 So from there, Hancock sends the student a Snapchat picture of herself while naked in her bathtub. Then the very next night, Emma Hancock sends the student a picture of herself naked, but she had a blanket covering her breast down and the student he responds with move the blanket down, to which Hancock sends another picture showing her completely exposed breast with the blanket pulled below them. And then it got even worse. On October twenty fifth of twenty twenty two, Emma Hancock sends a snap to the fifteen year old, exposing both of her breast and her vagina, and in return, the student sends Hancock a fully nude picture of him, exposing his erect penis, And over the following week, Emma Hancock and the students send nude pictures and videos of themselves, even videos masturbating back and forth through Snapchat. Also during that particular week, on October twenty sixth of twenty twenty two, to be exact, is when the two were learning that classroom for forty five minutes that I told you about at the start of this one. And it's interesting to note that, according to a lawsuit filed by the student's father,

6:46 which I'm quoting from here, Emma Hancock arranged for this rendezvous with the student in that classroom by messaging another student on Snapchat and telling her to inform the team to go to her room at lunchtime because she quote had something for him. But she also. Instructed this student to keep it quiet. So right there with that student, I'm sure that raised an antenna that something ain't right if this teacher's wanting me to keep it quiet, that this boy's going to his room now. When this all came out, it was discovered that in that classroom, the student and the teacher engaged in various sex acts, although it doesn't go into detail in the lawsuit as to.

7:38 What those sex acts were. Now, when they were finished, the teacher told the teen he had to swear to secrecy regarding this encounter. And it's important to know that a fifteen year old in the state of Oklahoma cannot consent to sexual contact with an adult, and even if under that circumstance, the law said they could because in some states you can consent at fifteen. Oklahoma is one of the states where the law stipulates that, regardless of your age, a student can't consent to sex with a teacher. So even if he was seventeen, even if he was eighteen, if he's in high school and she's teaching him, he can't consent to sex under Oklahoma law. So on October thirtieth of twenty twenty two, Emma Delaney Hancock, she gets assigned as a substitute teacher in another class during the lunchtime break, what do you think she does? She calls that student into that class and she allows.

8:46 The student to use her vate pen. After the student took a hit from the vatee, Emma Delaney Hancock suggested they should quote make out. So they go to a more secluded area of the empty classroom, specifically the closet, and according to the lawsuit, Emma Hancock aggressively kisses the student. Now, Hancock then gifts the student a VPE pen a charger in two or three VPE cartridges, which, y'all, this would be considered a form of grooming that student. She's gone her in favor with him right, gifting him things in an effort to build his trust and an effort to lure him in. And keep in mind, this is the chief of Police's wife. Incidentally, she's got two young daughters at this time. She's also the mayor's daughter herself.

9:47 Just a unique case, so we'll move on. On November third of twenty twenty two. Emma Hancock gets a signed to sub again and again, she as a student popped by her class at lunch and hit that vate pen and according to the actual verbiage in the lawsuit, she kissed the student, putting her tongue in his mouth, and sexually molested the student by rubbing his crotch area and upon his penis while having him grope or buttocks. Now, at one point during these instances, the student does what just about every student we have covered did. He tells a friend in two in three and four right, and one of those friends actually confronts Hancock about it and asked Hancock if.

10:45 It were true. So Hancock initially denies it to the student, and this was all given under direct testimony Minji. She initially denies it, but then she admits to it and tells the friend. She wasn't really concerned about it because, quote, they were not going to get caught, according to that student, but they did so. Back to early November of twenty twenty two, when I started this story, the school, they're made aware of this by that other teacher who some students had told about this relationship, and they reviewed that surveillance footage.

11:29 The dad talked to the son, he laid out the details, and the investigation started. And as I told you, no normal investigation by any stretch. Chief of Police's wife, mayor's daughter and a mother right, no doubt, in no small part to the fact that she was in a privileged position politically due to who she was married to and the fact that her dad was the mayor. It took a while. I mean, you don't want to mess this one up if you're the investigators. Right. On April thirteenth of twenty twenty three, she is arrested and she's charged with leude or indecent proposals or acts to a child under sixteen, solicitating sexual conduct or communication with a minor by use of technology, and obscene or indecent writings and pictures. And it's important to note these charges change over time. Typically you'll see them get added to as more information comes out and as the investigation really hits a big, good stride. But at this point they're just wanting enough to charge her. It's important to note that Emma Hancock, she knew it was coming, and she actually turned herself in upon being alerted that an arrest warrant was issued and it was approved by a judge.

12:56 She was in fact fully aware. They were investigating these allegations, and not just because her husband was the chief of police. But when the. School found out about this way back in November of that prior year, they removed Hancock from the substitute teacher call list and she was not allowed back on campus. So she knew this was coming at some point. Finally she gets arrested and she bails out, pinning her trial, and in late October of twenty twenty four, that trial takes place, and wow, did some details come out during that trial. First, it came out that there were two eighth grade students and they told police she showed them videos.

13:44 One of the videos was of the teacher kissing another woman, and another video was her pretending to perform oral sex on a dildo at a Halloween party. Some twenty winnesses testified on behalf of the state, and those witnesses included the student who had had the relationship with Hancock, his friends, his parents, those two eighth graders who reported the video incidents, and for law enforcement agents. Now, by this time, Hancock was twenty eight and during the trial she was going by her middle name, which was delaying, and she actually took the stand in her own defense, and she denied the existence of any inappropriate relationship between herself and the fifteen year old student and said they never sent each other sexual messages. She also said she did not show the eighth graders the videos. However, she did not deny their existence. She said instead that they were looking over her shoulder as the videos played the state's witness they all laid out the story of an alleged relationship between Hancock and the students that began on Snapchat, and throughout the trial, Hancock's defense team, as is their job, they attempted to cast doubt on the prosecutor's case by pointing

15:18 out numerous times the student told his friends of his relationship with Hancock, and although multiple students told jurors that the student had flaunted his relationship with the substitute and showed them pictures and messages she had sent him. The student himself testified that he did not tell anyone about his relationship with Hancock until his father confronted him about it after meeting with that high school principle. So that's kind of an issue because all these kids are coming out saying they saw videos in this student was bragging about it. But he gets on the stand and says, I didn't tell anybody about it until my dad asked me about it. Now, Hancock's defense team they recalled that student at that point because there's a discrepancy right between what these other students are saying and what he testified to and he just stuck to his story. So despite the conflicting statements, there was still a relationship there. The students were saying it and he was saying it. It was just he was denying showing them anything, and he could have been embarrassed or something like that and didn't want to say it. I don't know, but throughout his testimony he was very quiet, and he did appear nervous.

16:41 Occasionally he would look in Hancock's direction while being questioned by attorneys now. His story was that he gave Hancock's phone number in the fall semester of twenty twenty two so she could send him information about an assignment. Shortly thereafter, he said, they became friends on Snapchat and began sending each other messages that were not sexual in nature. Eventually, the student said he sent that shirtless picture I told you about, and the attorney asked why he decided to send that photet, and the student replied, really, honestly, I couldn't tell you why. All I can say is when I did send it, she snapped me back and said, are we sending half naked pictures? So the attorney then asked a student if he was surprised by this response, and that's a good question to ask me here talking about the chief of police's wife and beautiful, gorgeous woman.

17:40 And she responds back about are we sending naked pictures now? And his response was kind of because it was like, if she wasn't okay with it, she would have told me that she wasn't okay with it. So the student, in a way maybe was testing her a little bit to see what her response would be if he sent a shirtless photo. Maybe he felt like she was flirting with him a little bit or something. I'm just that's just my thought process on it. But after the initial interaction on Snapchat, the student said, the relationship did turn sexual, and as I told you, the student confirmed on the stand that between October twenty third and October thirtieth of twenty twenty two, the student said Hancock sent multiple new photos and videos of each other, including a photo of his direct penis and that video of Hancock masturbating. Now Hancock, she denies that any such images were shared, and unlike similar cases that I have covered, in this case the Oklahoma investigation, the agents said no files were able to be recovered from Snapchat. The student said it made him uncomfortable to talk about the things that happened to his dad, as you would expect. He was quoted as saying, I was embarrassed and shaken really bad. I just was embarrassed

19:13 because I felt like I was letting my dad down, like he raised me better than that, he was quoted as saying on the stand. So the student in both of his parents. They told jurors he transferred from that high school to an epic charter school for the rest of his sophomore year, that was the name of it, and the entirety of his junior year. Both parents said the events had a major impact on their son. His father told jurors, he gets depressed. He decided he was going to go back to Welston High School, which was the high school in question here this year, and my wife was just talking to him, probably about a week ago, and he says, it's just not the same, even crazier.

20:03 During the trial, on day two of the testimony, before the jury had entered the court room, the assistant DA by the name of Rachel Thompson walks over to the defense table and she tells Hancock and her counsel that the prosecution had just found out about another alleged and appropriate incident between Hancock and a student. According to Thompson, one of the students set to testify that day get this had revealed that she was once asked to accompany Hancock to get her nipples pierced. So after a short back and forth between the lawyers, the judge ultimately barred prosecutors from bringing up that alleged incident in.

20:53 Front of the jury. Prosecutors said they have wanted to use the situation as further evidence than Hancock lacked back with her students while substitute teaching, but the judge seemed to agree with the defense attorneys, who argued that the incident was outside the scope of the case and that it should have been brought up earlier if prosecutors wanted to present the allegation. On day two of the prosecutors also called seven of the students' friends to testify. Seven of them all said they saw this fifteen year old student in Hancock exchange Snapchat messages and if you said they saw pictures Hancock had sent him. One witness said he saw message Hancock saying she wanted to dress up, meaning Hancock as a stripper for the student on Halloween. Oklahoma investigative agents they testified that they were able to confirm the existence of multiple messages between the student and an account with the name Delaney, but were unable to gain the content of those messages. Jason Holisek, an investigator with the DA's office.

22:13 He testified about his experience asking Snapchat to preserve relevant data and eventually sending a search warrant to the company. Holisak said He attempted twice to recover the content from Snapchat servers, but due to the app's default design to automatically delete open snaps from the server, he was unable to recover any snaps from either of the students' accounts or Hancocks. Now, that allowed the defense to cast a little bit of doubt on whether the content being sent was explicitly sexual. He pointed out that even though the jury had heard about the naked photos and videos Hancock allegedly sent, there was no physical evidence that the communications included any content pointing to an inappropriate relationship.

23:07 Now, the last two. Witnesses to testify were the two eighth grade females who I told you Hancock showed those inappropriate videos too. Allegedly, one testified that quote, I remember we were sitting in the classroom and she was our substitute teacher, and we were in the kitchen area of the classroom and she started laughing at her phone. We asked her what was funny, and Hancock showed us a video from a Halloween party, and it was a video of her pulling a girl's pants down and sucking on a fake penis.

23:48 Wow. Jurors heard from four witnesses called by the defense, including a friend of Hancock's who attended the Halloween party, Hancock's father, and her husband seth Payer and the chief of beliefe quote, she looked me dead in the eyes and said there's nothing on her phone. I mean, I believe that there's nothing there. This was her husband's quote to jurors. She's my wife, I believe her. I'm on her side. Hancock herself, as I told you. She took the stand and she said, the only explanation I have is he was using a vate pen, which I was in the wrong for, and the store has got blown up into something it wasn't.

24:36 So the only thing Hancock is admitting to at this time was that she let him hit her vape pen, basically, and that's what she told the principle He was in her classroom for for forty five minutes that day. On cross examination, Assistant DA Kelly Tremble pressed Hancock on her claim that all of the witnesses against. Her were lying. Remember, they had like seven of his friends, they had all these other people, and Hancock responded, I feel like there were a couple of inappropriate instances, but I don't think that defines who I am as a person or a teacher. The trial ended up lasting three days. Two dozen witnesses were called in this trial, and so after three days of testimony and two dozen witnesses, the jury convenes and they come back and they find her guilty of one count related to sexual messages she sent the fifteen year old and another count for showing the eighth grader's videos of herself kissing another woman and pretending to perform oral sex on someone at that Halloween party. However, she was acquitted of three other counts, two of which were leude or indecent acts to a child unders sixteen, and one of which was soliciting sexual conduct or communication with a minor by use of technology. So the jury

26:10 recommended a six year sentence and delaying Hancock. She gets her sentencing date set for December eighteenth of twenty twenty four. So on that date, Hancock gets sentenced and she sentenced to six years in prison, three for each charge, but she will only have to serve four years behind bars if she adheres to the sentence, good time, et cetera, and she will have to register as a sex offender upon her release. Now It's important to note Hancock never admitted to anything she was convicted of.

27:02 As a matter of fact. She maintains her innocence, and she says this student is lying. The only thing she admitted to was allowing him to. Hit that vate pen that day. Personally, in my opinion, while I definitely believe there was likely some inappropriateness going on here forty five minutes alone in a classroom with a student, I think it was more than. A vate pen going on there. I do concur with the jury's findings that there was a huge, huge lack of physical evidence here. I mean they didn't have one text or one message. They know they were messaging back and forth, but they don't have the contents of those messages.

27:47 What did they entell? What were they doesn't mean it didn't happen, but you know, in this country, you need proof of a crime or a absolute ton of circumstantial evidence, and I just didn't see it personally in this one. Don't mean she's innocent, but there's a ton of lack of evidence here. Now, what about that chief of police husband, Well, as far as I can tell, he's still standing behind his wife and he believes her side of it, and they are still together according to everything I've been able to find. But what a crazy story. The mayor's daughter and the chief of police wife arrested for this foolishness, and that is going to wrap up this.

28:40 Episode of Bad Teachers. Check out the Patreon going to post some files on this one, some pictures of the people we discussed today on this episode. And if you would like to become a celebrity on our Patreon and support the show, check us out at patreon dot com slash podcast files. And tomorrow we got another murd All headed your way, and this time we're checking out the testimony and breaking it down for you of Buster Murdall. So you're gonna want to check that one out, of course. Next Tuesday, it's another installment of War Machine and we're going to cover the testimony of Christy Mack finally getting to her testimony.

29:40 You're gonna want to check that out. It is absolutely shocking. And another episode of Bad Teachers headed your way next Wednesday, and until next time for exposed scandalous files of the Elite. I'm your host, Jim Chapman, my choir MHM