Former Tulsa Deputy Sentenced For Sexual Battery, Indecent Exposure

Gerald Nuckolls, a former Tulsa County Sheriff's Deputy, has been sentenced to eight years in prison. Earlier this year, a jury convicted Nuckolls of sexual battery and indecent exposure while on duty.

His sentence is four years for each count - to run consecutively. 

In trying to get a lesser sentence, his attorney said if his client were not to serve another day, he still would have been severely punished - because he's lost his job, fiancee and reputation.

A jury deliberated for less than two hours in October to find him guilty in an incident that took place while he responded to a 911 hang-up call in September, 2014. He'd been assigned to investigate the call, and during the investigation he grabbed a woman's breast and exposed himself to her.

The jury recommended he serve four years for each crime.

"He was inappropriate that  morning - which he admitted to," said Terry Funk, Nuckolls' attorney.

10/16/2015 Related Story: Ex-Tulsa County Deputy Found Guilty Of Sexual Battery While In Uniform

In a brief filed just before sentencing, the word victim had quotation marks around it. And despite a conviction, the documents maintained Nuckolls is innocent, saying the contact was consensual. The papers say Nuckolls is a veteran suffering from major depressive disorder.

Nuckolls told the judge he had neglected his mental health saying, "in the infantry you're supposed to be tough."

Tulsa County Prosecutor Kenneth Elmore - a combat veteran himself - says Nuckolls' veteran status and time spent as a deputy should not factor into sentencing.

"It was a little personal, yes ma'am," Elmore said. "The laws apply to us all the same.

"Whether you've served in combat or whether you're a law enforcement officer, you shouldn't receive special treatment when it comes to sentencing, especially for a crime like this."

Judge Bill LaFortune seemed to agree, sentencing Nuckolls to eight years total.

"To get consecutive four-year terms is disappointing," Funk said.

Nuckolls' attorney said he believes his client's past jobs played a role in that decision.

"I don't know about making an example, but I think it worked against him," Funk said.