Oklahoma City Man Charged with Making a Bomb Threat and Child Sexual Exploitation

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – ROBERT SHANE APGAR, 33, of Oklahoma City, has been charged with falsely and maliciously reporting that his estranged ex-wife intended to blow up the Grady County Courthouse and with child exploitation and child pornography crimes, announced Mark A. Yancey, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

According to the first count of a four-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury yesterday, Apgar used the internet on December 1, 2015, to send false information about an attempt to bomb the Grady County Courthouse. An affidavit filed on May 2, 2017, explains that this threat was made anonymously to the FBI by email and triggered precautions at the Grady County Sheriff’s Office. The email stated that the bombing would be carried out by a person later identified as Apgar’s ex-wife, whom he had threatened before. On December 8, 2015, after further investigation, the FBI executed a search warrant at an Oklahoma City residence where Apgar was living with his mother.

The search yielded pornographic images of prepubescent children from October 2015. According to Count 2 of yesterday’s indictment, Apgar attempted to persuade, induce, and entice a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of transmitting video images of that conduct. According to Count 3, Apgar used a facility of interstate commerce to send images of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. And according to Count 4, Apgar possessed images of that sort with intent to view them after they had been transported using a means of interstate commerce.

If convicted of making a bomb threat, Apgar could be sentenced to ten years in prison and three years of supervised release. A conviction on Count 2 would carry a minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years in prison. Count 3 would lead to a sentence of five to 20 years in prison, while a conviction on Count 4 would carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Reference is made to court records for further information. The public is reminded that Apgar is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Grady County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Hale.