Samuel Melton: Charges, 42-Year Sentence, and School Lawsuit

Samuel Melton, a former choir teacher at Choctaw High School in Oklahoma, pleaded guilty on August 19, 2025, to 15 felony sex crimes against a student and was sentenced to 42 years: 17 years in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections followed by 25 years of probation. Attorney General Gentner Drummond, whose office took over the prosecution weeks before the plea, called it the longest sentence ever handed down for a sexual predator in Oklahoma schools.¹

The Abuse and How It Came to Light

Melton was employed in the Choctaw-Nicoma Park School District from 2020 until April 9, 2025.²³⁴

Smith disclosed the abuse to her parents, Danny and Merissa Smith, on April 6, 2025. They contacted the Choctaw-Nicoma Park Police Department the same day. Three days later, in a meeting with Superintendent David Reid and Assistant Superintendent Michael James, Melton confessed to the sexual relationship and said it had ended when his wife discovered it. He resigned that day.⁴

The Charges and the 42-Year Sentence

Melton was arrested at his home in Moore, Oklahoma, on April 28, 2025, the same day the Oklahoma County District Attorney filed 15 felony counts: four counts of first-degree rape by instrumentation, three counts of second-degree rape, four counts of forcible oral sodomy, and four counts of sexual battery.⁵⁶

On August 19, 2025, Melton, then 29, pleaded guilty to all 15 counts before Oklahoma County District Special Judge Jason Glidewell under an agreement with prosecutors. His total sentence was 42 years: 17 years of imprisonment followed by 25 years of probation. He is also required to register as a sex offender.⁷

Avery Smith, then 19, addressed Melton in court for roughly 10 minutes. “You were the darkness that crept into the place that was meant to be safe for me,” she told him. “You are a predator, and I was just one of your prey.” She later said the statement was important “for my own closure” and to show other victims in Oklahoma that “there is justice on the other side.”⁷⁸

Melton did not apologize at the hearing. He kept his head down and gripped a tissue while Smith spoke. His attorney, Chris Box, said Melton was “incredibly remorseful” and “wanted closure, not only for himself, but for the victim.”⁷

Warnings the School Ignored

Melton’s conduct had drawn attention inside the school long before the disclosure. Records filed in later legal proceedings indicate school officials were alerted to his behavior as early as 2022, and at least 13 witnesses, students and staff, raised concerns about his relationship with the student.⁹

In January 2024, administrators issued Melton a letter of reprimand for inappropriate conduct with the student. Nothing further followed, and the abuse continued for months afterward.⁹ In her victim impact statement, Smith said “others confronted you about what you were doing to me,” indicating the situation was not a secret within the school.¹⁰

Why the Attorney General Took Over

The case was originally prosecuted by Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna’s office. On July 3, 2025, the Smith family sent a letter to Attorney General Gentner Drummond asking him to intervene. The family thanked Drummond for “taking our concerns seriously and stepping in to fight for us,” though the specific grounds for their dissatisfaction with the DA were not made public.¹¹

Drummond formally assumed the prosecution on July 21, 2025. “I will not tolerate predators in our schools,” he said. “As a father and grandfather, I cannot imagine the damage this abuse has caused to Miss Smith and her family.”¹¹ Melton pleaded guilty less than a month later.

The Federal Lawsuit Against the School District

On June 13, 2025, before the criminal case resolved, Avery Smith filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Choctaw-Nicoma Park School District, several administrators, and Melton. Smith v. Independent School District No. 4 of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma et al. (Case No. 5:25-cv-00655) was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma and assigned to Judge Bernard M. Jones II.¹²

Brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the complaint alleges the district “harbored and protected a known sexual predator” despite multiple warnings. A tort claim filed before the lawsuit sought $25 million in damages from the district. Superintendent David Reid and Assistant Superintendent Michael James were terminated as defendants in December 2025.⁴¹²

The lawsuit’s “deliberate indifference” theory rests on a pattern beyond Melton. The complaint documents seven separate incidents between 2005 and 2021 in which Choctaw-Nicoma Park teachers and coaches were accused of or pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with students, at both the high school and middle school levels, and in one 2015 case alleges another teacher reported the misconduct to then-Principal David Reid. In a 2021 case, the complaint says multiple staff warnings preceded the teacher’s guilty plea.⁴

Plaintiff’s attorney Cameron Spradling described the district’s response to these incidents as a “callous and cavalier attitude” and said of Melton that “just two months after a reprimand for grooming, the predator struck, beginning a 14-month cycle of sexual abuse.” The district has said it cannot comment on ongoing litigation. As of mid-2026, the civil case remains active; recent docket entries include a motion to quash a subpoena filed by the school district in May 2026.⁴¹²

1
Oklahoma Attorney General. Drummond Secures Justice for Teen Victim of Former Teacher
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KOCO. Samuel Melton Sentence: Former Choctaw High School Teacher Sex Crimes
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News9. Former Choctaw-Nicoma Park Teacher Accused of Sex Crimes Enters Guilty Plea
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News9. Federal Lawsuit Alleges Choctaw-Nicoma Park School District Failed to Protect Student
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Yahoo News. Former Choctaw Teacher Sentenced to 42 Years
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News9. Body Camera Footage Released of Former Choctaw High School Choir Teacher’s Arrest
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The Oklahoman. Former Choctaw Choir Teacher Sam Melton Sentenced for Sex Crimes
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KOCO. Samuel Melton: Oklahoma Teacher Convicted of Sex Crimes
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News9. Protective Order Details Allegations Against Former Choctaw High School Choir Teacher
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KOCO. Samuel Melton: Choctaw Teacher Convicted of Sex Crimes
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Oklahoma Attorney General. Drummond Takes Over Prosecution of Former Choctaw Educator Charged With Sex Crimes
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PACER Monitor. Smith v. Independent School District No. 4 of Oklahoma County