Justice Delayed for Cherokee County Victim After Snapchat Rejects Tribal Warrant
- Cherokee 411 Staff
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
By Staff, Cherokee 411
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Investigators in Cherokee County say a child sexual abuse case has stalled after social media company Snapchat refused to honor a tribal search warrant, citing jurisdictional limits that have complicated law enforcement efforts in eastern Oklahoma following the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision.
Cherokee County Sheriff’s Investigator Jesse Mitchell said he has been working for 10 months on a child sexual abuse material case involving an 18-year-old woman whose ex-boyfriend allegedly shared explicit photos of her taken when she was 11 years old. Both the victim and suspect are citizens of federally recognized tribes.
“He hacked into her account and began to send those photos, after they separated, to her family members, to her friends,” Mitchell said. “Her juvenile brother received a photo of my victim in the nude.”
Mitchell said he initially contacted Snapchat to issue a data preservation letter — a common first step in digital evidence collection. The company agreed to hold the data for 90 days, giving investigators time to obtain a search warrant.
Because both the victim and suspect are tribal citizens and the alleged crime occurred within the Cherokee Nation Reservation, Mitchell obtained a warrant through tribal court. But Snapchat rejected the warrant, saying it did not come from a “court of competent jurisdiction.”
“Big companies like Snapchat, they’re not recognizing McGirt,” Mitchell said. “They’re out of state, they don’t deal with it. My hands are tied.”
The McGirt ruling, issued by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020, reaffirmed that much of eastern Oklahoma remains Indian Country under federal law. As a result, cases involving Native American citizens on tribal land fall under tribal or federal jurisdiction — not state. But not all private companies have adapted their compliance systems to recognize tribal court documents, leaving investigators like Mitchell in legal limbo.
Mitchell said the situation has worsened as the suspect allegedly began threatening the victim, demanding more photos. The 90-day preservation period for the Snapchat data has since expired, potentially erasing key evidence.
“It’s not something that can’t be overcome,” Mitchell said. “Within the confines of the law and the justice system, we can make this work. But if companies don’t know about it and they don’t know about the restrictions, we need to get them on board so they can help us do our job.”
In a statement to News On 6, Cherokee Nation Attorney General Chad Harsha said the tribe is working with local law enforcement to address the issue.
“We are concerned by reports of a third-party refusing to cooperate with an ongoing tribal and local law enforcement criminal investigation involving child safety,” Harsha said. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to resolve this issue and ensure the case is thoroughly investigated and the appropriate charges filed. We appreciate our partnership with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and our ongoing collaboration and coordination on public safety matters in the Cherokee Nation Reservation.”
A spokesperson for Snapchat told News On 6 that while the company works closely with law enforcement, current laws prevent it from recognizing tribal court warrants.
“We work closely with law enforcement to prevent such heinous activities on our platform,” the company said. “We currently respond to approximately 98% of valid legal requests within the timeframe specified in the request. However, in this instance, we would have eagerly worked with tribal law enforcement on this matter if the law allowed.”
Mitchell said he continues to coordinate with the Cherokee Nation Attorney General’s Office to find a way forward. For now, however, the victim remains without justice — another casualty of jurisdictional confusion in post-McGirt Oklahoma.