IT worker in Oklahoma school district faces felony charges for stealing nude photos of students, teachers

A former Oklahoma public school employee faces up to 30 years in prison after his elaborate scheme to steal illicit photos was exposed.

Zachary Milliren, a 26-year-old IT professional employed in the Pontotoc County school district in Byng, Oklahoma, was found to be in unlawful possession of photos and videos of over 200 people, including students, teachers and other school staff members.

He is accused of hacking Snapchat accounts to acquire inappropriate photos and using those images as leverage to coax students and others into sharing their own photos.

Milliren faces one count of computer fraud, one count of nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images and faces up to 30 years in prison for one count of showing obscene material to a minor.

Milliren was charged on Jan. 11. Neither he nor his lawyer has offered comment.

An affidavit from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) reveals a teacher raised concerns last June about inappropriate activity on Snapchat involving multiple individuals at the school, according to a report from NonDoc. The teacher had been alerted by a parent.

“The parent stated the suspect had created a Snapchat account for the purpose of adding current and former students of [the teacher],” the affidavit reads. “[The teacher] was not the only victim, but there were other current and former students to include minors that were victims of this and their photos were being shared as well.”

“The unknown user provided [the student] with a list of individuals of whom he had nude photographs of (sic) and sent [the student] nude images of [the teacher]. The unknown user requested [the student] to send them nude photos of other local students and staff in trade.”

According to the affidavit, OSBI promptly interviewed Milliren, took possession of two Samsung phones, and shortly after returned to his residence with a search warrant.

Erik Johnson, the district attorney, expressed confidence about evidence in the case.

“All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty, but we do feel like we’ve got a substantial amount of information that has been produced by OSBI during the course of their investigation that is extremely telling,” Johnson said, the day after the charges were brought forth.

A court date has not been set.