Wagoner Co. Deputies Arrest Man Accused Of Child Rape

Wagoner County deputies arrested a Broken Arrow man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl three years ago.

Investigators say the rape was reported in 2021, and Wardell Newsome was the suspect, but they didn’t have enough evidence to make an arrest.

Investigators say they sent the child’s rape kit to the OSBI crime lab, but due to a backlog, it took years to be tested. 

They say the results came back just a few weeks ago, and it led them back to Newsome.

Body camera video shows Tulsa Police and Wagoner County Deputies arresting Wardell Newsome outside a store in Tulsa in July. 

Investigators say the victim was someone Newsome knew, and the victim's family reported what happened in October of 2021.

“At the time, we did forensic interviews on the children, there were disclosures that were made, but we didn’t quite have enough, enough to get probable cause to make the arrest at the time," said Investigator Jake Carey with the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office. 

Investigator Carey says an exam was done on the victim to collect possible evidence and that was sent to the OSBI crime lab. Three years later, they now have the results.

“The email basically stated that there was enough evidence present on the female to conclude that there was sexual activity," said Carey. 

Carey says they got a DNA sample from Newsome and that led to an arrest warrant.

Then, they got a tip Newsome planned to leave the state, and possibly leave the country, so investigators asked Tulsa Police for help, who arrested Newsome at a Tulsa store. 

“It’s incredibly satisfying because, a lot of times, it just doesn’t happen. We work really hard to try and bring justice for these kids or for whoever it is, and unfortunately, we just can’t come to the conclusion we know is true without this type of evidence, so the fact we got this back from OSBI, it’s a game changer," said Carey. 

Newsome is in the Wagoner County jail on a $100,000 bond.