Police: Eucha Man Charged With Having Child Porn Worked With Kids

A Eucha man's arrest after being pulled over last week for weaving between lanes lead to him being charged with possession of child pornography Wednesday.

Matthew Hamson, 26, faces charges of aggravated possession of child pornography, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and possession or selling of paraphernalia while using a motor vehicle.

After he was pulled over for suspicion of driving under the influence, investigators say they found a flash drive in his car containing hundreds of illicit videos and pictures.

Detectives says they're still in the early stages of the investigation, but they believe Hamson may have been targeting kids through work.

According to the arrest report, Matthew Hamson said he had "nothing to hide," when a trooper pulled him over for swerving all over the road.

Searching his car, troopers found a pipe and a mint container filled with crystal meth and several baggies.

10/25/2013 Related Story: Eucha Man Arrested For Child Pornography, Killing Cat With Frying Pan

It wasn't until the car was impounded that a Pandora's box was found at the end of a key chain.

"And there's over 2,000 images of child pornography," said Tulsa Police Officer Leland Ashley.

Investigators say the images were on a flash drive. Many of them show 9 to 13-year-old boys.

"Some of these are obviously homemade, these aren't something he got off a website," Ashley said.

The arrest report lists Hamson's employer as "Teen Challenge of Oklahoma," a faith-based kids camp near Grand Lake.

Ashley said predators often target at risk youth.

"Ultimately, the victims are thinking, 'This is someone I trust,' so then they are in fear of betraying that trust, and it really creates a vicious cycle," Ashley said.

The Executive Director of Teen Challenge said Hamson worked there less for than a month, and emailed us this statement:

"Our hearts are broken by the alleged behavior of Matthew Hamson. Any behavior that harms children in any way is unacceptable and we are praying for all the victims that are impacted by these types of reprehensible acts. Teen Challenge of Oklahoma screens all potential employees with appropriate background checks in an effort to insure the safety of our students. In this case there was no history to warn of this behavior. After cooperating fully with the investigators they assured us that there was no way that we could have known because his criminal history was clear, as we already knew from our pre- screening efforts. People involved in this type of behavior lead a secret life that is only revealed after someone is harmed. This is a tragic truth in our society today. Mr. Hamson had currently been employed with Teen Challenge for 3 weeks and had just finished his supervised training period. He is no longer an employee of Teen Challenge. It is our understanding that he was also previously employed by Tulsa County Juvenile Detention Services in the recent past, an indication that he was screened and cleared to work with adolescents previously as well.

"In regards to the students at Teen Challenge of Oklahoma, we have interviewed each student and contacted each parent. After our interviews as well as discussions with the law enforcement officers investigating this crime we are confident at this time that no student affiliated with Teen Challenge of Oklahoma was involved.

"We will continue our dedication to provide a safe and secure environment for our students. Our hearts remain broken and we will continue praying for all victims of these types of acts."

"Usually, they've been able to get away with these crimes for years, because they've developed that trust with these children," Ashley said.

Investigators believe Hamson worked at other youth camps in California and Virginia.

They also believe Hamson was a counselor at Tulsa's Juvenile Court, after recovering a badge with his name on it while serving a search warrant.

An 18-year-old Broken Arrow man who was with Hamson, Grady Hayes, is still being held in the Tulsa County jail on possession of controlled drugs complaints, but has not been formally charged.