Ex-teaching assistant charged with sex crime

A former teaching assistant at a Putnam City middle school has been accused in a felony charge of sending messages of a sexual nature to a former student on Instagram.

Markus L. Douglas, 37, of Edmond, is charged with using technology to engage in sexual communication with a minor.

He was identified by police as a teaching assistant at Kenneth Cooper Middle School.

He was sent home after the allegations first surfaced Sept. 21 and resigned Oct. 1, a district spokesman said.

Prosecutors said the victim was 17 at the time she received the messages.

“The messages print out to 16 pages,” a Putnam City campus police officer reported in a court affidavit. “The messages do include two pornographic pictures of two adults in a sex act.”

The victim in September filed for a protective order. She complained he sent her multiple pictures of porn and tried to meet with her for sex.

Douglas passed a background check before he was hired.

“By state law and district policy as part of efforts to provide a safe, secure learning environment, school district employees are required to have a background check before employment. The employee involved in this situation complied with the policy,” Putnam City Schools spokesman Steve Lindley said.

Douglas was charged Monday in Oklahoma County District Court. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday and had not been arrested.