A man based in Arkansas went viral on TikTok after sharing the story of a crooked cop who he said was “grooming” his underaged daughter.
The @arkansastransparency account shared a video of the dad, who went unnamed, speaking at a meeting. It was there that the dad shared how Johnson County Chief Deputy Jacob Shook, who is no longer employed by the police force, attempted to court two minors. As of Friday, the TikTok had amassed more than 15.8 million views.
What did the officer allegedly do?
According to the dad, Shook sent a series of “inappropriate Snapchats” to his daughter. Given her age, the daughter’s name remains private.
In the video, the child’s father said that he called Shook personally.
“I was respectful,” he said. “I have that recorded.”
But the call didn’t last long, according to the dad. In the video, he said that he asked Shook why he was sending Snapchats to his daughter. Shortly after, Shook ended the call. And despite promising to call the dad back, the officer never did.
That led the father to confront Shook in person, where he said that the two had another conversation in what looked like a “closet.”
“There were cops knocking on the door as I’m talking to him,” the father said. “[Shook’s] putting his gun on the desk in-between us as I’m telling him what he’s doing. He never denied sending her Snapchats. He confirmed the reason why he said, ‘You’re so pretty’ is because she’s beautiful.”
The dad also accused Shook of sending inappropriate Snapchats to another minor. In one message, according to the dad, the officer told the young girl that she had “nice toes.”
Did the sheriff’s office get involved?
According to the dad, it took some time before any punitive action was taken against Shook. The dad said he recorded every conversation between himself and Shook because he knew it would be “a cop’s word against mine.”
Still, even armed with the recordings, he said that the sheriff initially couldn’t meet with him because he was tied up in meetings. Other cops that the dad told about Shook’s behavior, he said, appeared unphased.
“There were no jaws dropped [when I reported the behavior],” the dad said. “There was nothing.”
Eventually, the sheriff got in contact with the dad by phone. The dad said he explained “everything” that Shook told his daughter and the other minor.
“I told him about the Snapchats, the date, the ‘cute toes,’ the call before, all of that,” the father said.
It might have taken some time, but, on Aug. 16, the department confirmed on Facebook that Shook is no longer employed with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. The post didn’t detail whether Shook resigned or was terminated; it only said that he was no longer employed there “due to a policy violation.”
In a recent phone interview with the Daily Dot, Johnson County Sheriff Tom Hughes said that Shook “did not commit a crime.” He said he could not comment on why Shook is no longer with the force. “Even though there’s a lot of Twitter or TikTok the fact is that there’s no crime. There may be somebody offended, which is absolutely fine, but there was no crime ever,” he said. “From the start, there has been no criminal offense that meets the criminal statutes in the state of Arkansas.”
Viewers react
Some reporting credits the @arkansastransparency TikTok account with bringing this issue to light. The video went viral after it was uploaded last week.
As such, many viewers applauded the dad for speaking out. One popular comment, for instance, that has amassed 13 likes so far, just included a string of fire emojis.
“That’s how grooming starts,” another woman wrote.
And in a follow-up video from @arkansastransparency, where the dad confronts the sheriff directly regarding Shook’s behavior, many commenters said that they believed Shook deserves jail time.
“Put the pos in jail,” one viewer said.
@arkansastransparency Johnson County, on notice. Fathers, be mad! Mothers, BE MAD! Citizens, BE MAD! The Johnson County Sheriff is protecting a former Chief Deputy Jacob Shook, accused of multiple instances of inappropriate behavior with a minor. The Arkansas State Police even contacted the Sheriff to tell him ANOTHER complaint was just filed directly with them, and HE STILL WONT SUSPEND HIM! Video is coming of multiple interviews. Stay tuned. #johnsoncounty #arkansas #transparency #fbi #childsexcrimes ♬ original sound – Arkansas Transparency
“End qualified immunity and hold him personally and financially responsible,” another added.
“Always fired never in JAILLLL,” a third person wrote.
“Lock this criminal up put him away,” a fourth viewer said.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @arkansastransparency via TikTok comment. We have also contacted Shook by email.
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