Will Commissioner James Hanning Have to Drop his Trousers in Court?
So we are following up on the Wagoner County Commissioner James Hanning molestation case that was discovered during a deposition of Hanning's step daughter. The facts are a bit muddy but when she was in grade school or at eight years of age depending upon who tells the story, the girl was subjected to molestation of some sort. The confession came out during the deposition as the now 26 year old was under oath and had to answer the question.
Another story told was that one of the OSBI witnesses was out on the back deck of a rental home working that same day and Commissioner James Hanning came out to tell his side of the story. One would be mortified I suppose if something like that was said about you so perhaps Commissioner James Hanning was either honestly telling his side of the story or he was attempting to muddy the water.
Dreaming of Molesting Your Step Daughter or Just Bragging About it?
The victim was quite upset to find out that she would be moving back into the very home where she said she had been victimized by her stepfather Commissioner James Hanning. The home had been purchased by her boyfriend who was unaware of the past, thinking he was doing a good thing buying the family home that ought to have held cherished memories. A verbal altercation occurred with the victim's mother, Mrs. Hanning, with Commissioner James Hanning being within earshot, when the subject was brought up. “That's private!” we were told was the angry reply from Mrs. Hanning when the alleged molestation was brought up.
Months later we hear about the confession and accusations, write a story about it, and the next day Wagoner County D.A. Jack Thorpe writes a letter to the OSBI and asks for an investigation. That was a year ago and more with no movement. A week or two after the story hit the victim posted on Facebook, relieved that something was finally being done and accusing her own mother of handing her over to her husband, Commissioner James Hanning.
This deposition was being covered by Eric Jordan, a sitting assistant District Attorney at the time, acting allegedly as a private attorney but that has yet to be proven. For all we know he was representing Commissioner Hanning while on the State payroll.
Then crickets... so we started doing some digging and talked to some sources that were interviewed by the OSBI on the matter. One source recounted what they said they told the OSBI and one has to wonder why Commissioner James Hanning is still in office and not sitting in a jail cell awaiting trial.
The story we were told went like this. The family allegedly had a long running tradition of sleeping together in the parents bed on Christmas Eve. For a nuclear family, perhaps this might be plausible. For a blended family, I do not know of many mentally healthy or wise stepfathers wanting to be in bed with a 12 year old stepdaughter under any circumstances. But Commissioner James Hanning is said to be talking about what happened with the OSBI witness and we were told that he claimed that he was having a dream and woke up with his hand down his 12 year old stepdaughter's underwear.
Hanning told the witness that the yearly tradition ended after that.
We know for sure that the OSBI interviewed Tyler Paulsen and his brother who was at one time close to the victim, then Eric Jordan who first questioned the victim during the deposition in the Commissioner James Hanning/Tyler Paulsen lawsuit, then Vicky Hanning who is Commissioner James Hanning's wife, and either Vicky's sister or her aunt who had allegedly been told of the molestation while it was occurring when the child was in grade school. We are not aware that Commissioner James Hanning has been interviewed. One certainly hopes he was and was given a psychological test to judge his reaction to underage girls and a lie detector test, both of which should prove his innocence if that is the case.
There is a clue that ADA Eric Jordan either interviewed the victim later or heard Commissioner James Hanning's explanation because during the taped phone call he refers to the girl as being eight years old at the time of the crime, stating that he didn't believe that an eight year old girl would be an accomplished liar at that age and stating that any normal case of this type would have the accused at the police station by this point. The point being that the OSBI interview with ADA Eric Jordan likely contains information that we are not privy to at this point.
Another source close to Commissioner James Hanning claims that Hanning and his wife are saying that the victim is lying and that the victim came on to Commissioner James Hanning and was rebuffed. The claim is that the victim was humiliated by being rejected by her stepfather and came up with this story. One thing I do know is that Commissioner James Hanning would be ill served by any counsel that allowed him to use that defense on a witness stand.
That seems completely implausible in our opinion. Now we do not know for certain at what age the alleged molestation started but the idea of an eight year old girl, to use ADA Eric Jordan's words, would one make a pass at her stepdad, and two be offended if turned down, and three would hold a grudge for18 years over being rejected. Even if Commissioner James Hanning is alleging that this “pass” or “seduction attempt” occurred as a teenager it is unlikely that a teenage girl would hold a grudge for ten to twelve years.
And if this claim of an eight year old with the hots for stepdad was plausible at all, why would the victim wait until she was 26 years old? Most women, most teenage girls, hell most kids with a grudge don't have nearly that much patience to get their revenge.
Then there is the problem of contemporary stories told around the period that the alleged molestation started or happened; if Vicky Hanning's sister or aunt was told such that something was going on she would be a fool to admit to it as she would have been legally and possibly criminally responsible for not alerting authorities.
Then there is one absolutely stunning story that came out of the OSBI interviews according to the sources. The story was told to the OSBI that at one point after this became an issue the victim was attempting to defend herself and her story, telling the source “Yeah? Well if it never happened how do I know that he is uncircumcised?”
Shades of Bill Clinton..... is Commissioner James Hanning going to have to drop his trousers to establish his innocence?
Who knows the truth of all this? The victim and Commissioner James Hanning and most likely Vicky Hanning. What we are absolutely sure of is that Commissioner James Hanning is getting massive preferential treatment and that 99.95% of the men in Oklahoma would have been sitting in a jail cell awaiting trial. Because he is an elected official the Wagoner County District Attorney's office refused to prosecute and recused their office and Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter seems to be echoing that sentiment as it has been over a year since the allegations came to light while the victim was under oath and testifying.
