Thief Has 'Change Of Heart'; Leads OKC Police To Child Porn Suspect

Rusty Surette, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma City police said a thief had a 'change of heart' and turned in some stolen goods so officers could arrest a child porn suspect.

Lisa Flores said she moved into the area of N.W. 97th Street and Western Avenue to get away from crime in her previous neighborhoods.

"I like it because there's a park right here and the school is right here," said Flores. "It's a quiet area."

A lot of the residents in this area say the neighborhood is family-friendly, but lurking in the shadows of a children's playground at a city park sits a home heavily guarded by bushes and branches.

"It looks like a mess," said neighbor Raymond Hutchinson.

Hutchinson and many others would like to see it cleaned up, but behind all that 'mess' is an eyesore littered with latex gloves and broken glass. It's a home recently broken into. Police say whoever committed the crime took off with the homeowner's laptop and that's where the story takes an interesting turn.

Police say the thief took the laptop home and found child porn on it. Seeing that, the thief gave the laptop to a friend so he could give it to police.

"There's the old saying there's no honor among thieves, but in this case it was actually a thief who found the items on the computer and made sure it got into the hands of police so that police could know about this person," said Oklahoma City Police MSgt. Gary Knight.

"That person" is Scott Edward Hinds. Using a search warrant, police searched the 45-year-old's home. Inside they found marijuana, guns and surveillance cameras.

Neighbors say they saw police seize several computers from the home.

Hinds is described as a quiet, secluded man who dabbles in satanic rituals. Several stones carved as human skulls are in Hinds' yard. Neighbors say inside are "voo-doo" items and an old, used coffin.

Animal control has seized Hinds' two dogs and a calf he kept in the backyard. As of 10:00 p.m. Thursday, Hinds was still listed in the Oklahoma County jail on a $35,000 bond.

He's facing two charges of possessing juvenile porn, one charge of possessing a firearm in the commission of a felony, one charge of using surveillance cameras to help facilitate a crime and three charges related to the weed he was growing inside his home.

The unidentified thief that sparked all this has not been arrested. Police say that part of the investigation is still on-going and they will be talking with him in the near future.