LATIMER COUNTY, Okla. — The second in command for the Latimer County Sheriff’s Office is back on duty, despite being on probation for a violent assault on his son.
Undersheriff Mark Ward got six months’ probation and a $100 fine for a misdemeanor physical assault on his then 16-year-old son.
Ward pleaded no contest, meaning he does not dispute the facts of the case. “Choking, punching, kicking, it’s horrific and it’s not a singular incident,” said Brecken Wagner, the victim’s family attorney. “It is the most egregious act of a lack of total justice I have seen.”
The teens maternal family hired Wagner because they feared preferential treatment might occur. “I will tell you circumstances in that probable cause affidavit would be a felony in any case I’ve ever worked on,” he said.
Sheriff Adam Woodruff confirmed Ward is back on duty. He declined an interview, but said Ward can legally return to work. One reason: the rules of Ward‘s probation allow him to carry a firearm—it is the only line on the standard probation form not initialed by Ward.
“He has all the rules of probation that typically any citizen would have—except one,” said Wagner. Ward’s son also has a protective order against his father, while Ward maintains a position as vice president of the Wilburton school board.
Wagner says the family is considering a civil case.
“It’s as if all the grown-ups around him, the system around him, everything he was taught to believe in just said, ‘no, we don’t care about you,’” said Wagner. Ward‘s attorney, Wesley Cherry, declined an interview but told 2News on the phone that it is their position the teen has some fault in the matter, but due to sealed documents, he can’t discuss it.
Cherry said he believes Undersheriff Ward’s punishment is fair.
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