11 COUNTS: Church responds after Claremore pastor accused of 'peeping tom'

On Wednesday afternoon, DestinyLife Church leadership was informed of the arrest of staff member Kendrick Oakley on multiple counts related to “Peeping Tom” offenses. The church first became aware of the charges through a media inquiry from Channel 2 News in Tulsa.

Mr. Oakley has served on staff at DestinyLife Church for the past three years.

He was also recently elected to the board of Claremore Christian School (CCS) in late May 2025.

However, he had not yet participated in any board meetings nor had any involvement in decision-making, operations, or policy at CCS.

In light of these developments, the DestinyLife Church body gathered Wednesday evening to process the difficult news. Following that meeting, the CCS Board took immediate action to remove Mr. Oakley from the board. He will have no future involvement in any CCS activities or operations.

Following a biblical model of church discipline, Kendrick Oakley has been dismissed from serving as an elder and as a member of the church staff.

Lead Pastor Glenn Shaffer stated, “This is heartbreaking news. Our greatest concern is for the victim and their family, as well as for those in our church and school communities who are impacted.”

DestinyLife Church is committed to transparency and full cooperation with authorities. We ask for prayer for all affected during this time.

“Mr. Oakley’s initial prosecution was declined by our office because Mr. Oakley claimed he was Indian, and therefore not able to be prosecuted by the State due to McGirt case law that prevents the State from having jurisdictional authority to prosecute. The Cherokee Nation also submitted a letter stating that Mr. Oakley may meet the criteria for being a Cherokee Nation citizen, and that his blood quantum should be investigated.


Mr. Oakley was afforded due process and it was determined by the court that McGirt was not applicable to his case, and that he did not meet the criteria for Cherokee citizenship. This ruling reinforced that the State did have proper jurisdiction to prosecute Mr. Oakley. 



Once the State received that verification, our office expeditiously re-filed charges against Mr. Oakley on August 1st, 2025.



This is another example of why it is so important for there to be concurrent criminal jurisdiction between Indian Nations and the State of Oklahoma in order to prosecute cases in a timely manner.”

“On July 22, 2024, the Cherokee Nation Attorney General’s Office, by request from the City of Tulsa, confirmed that Kendrick Oakley is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Since confirming Mr. Oakley’s citizenship more than a year ago, the Cherokee Nation Attorney General’s Office has not received any referral or other information about this case. It appears the allegations occurred outside of the Cherokee Nation Reservation but within the reservation of a neighboring tribal nation.”