An Oklahoma man who identifies as non-binary and genderqueer has been arrested on charges related to the possession of child pornography. Cody Dillon Emerson, 38, who also uses the name Cody Finkelstein on social media, claimed that he had downloaded the images of girls being sexually abused because he was “curious about being a female.”
Emerson, also known by his alias “Mercury,” was first apprehended on October 10 at the bar where he worked in Tulsa. According to an arrest report obtained by Reduxx, the investigation into Emerson began after he was linked to a Google account which had been used to stash 600 child sexual abuse images.
Emerson told the officer that he had lost access to the account after it had been flagged by Google, but admitted that his Android cellphone would have been automatically syncing his files to the Google Photos cloud.
After being cuffed, Emerson admitted to knowingly downloading child sexual abuse material, and informed officers of a laptop and an external hard drive at his residence where additional abuse images were being stored.
Disturbingly, Emerson stated he sought out child sexual abuse materials of girls as young as 9 because he was “curious about being a female and it sexually stimulated him.”
Emerson was booked at the David L. Moss jail on charges of aggravated child pornography possession and has been assigned a public defender with his preliminary hearing scheduled for November 12.
On his social media, Emerson stated he used “they/them” pronouns, and posted a pride flag indicating he identified as genderqueer, pansexual, and non-binary. He also shared an infographic on the “transgender umbrella” explaining the “binary” and “non-binary” identities of transgenderism.
In some recent posts, Emerson referred to himself as a “girl” and appeared to have begun wearing makeup.
While the impact Emerson’s gender identity will have on his case is yet to be seen, Oklahoma has been a battleground on gender identity laws since Governor Kevin Stitt issued an executive order banning sex marker changes on birth certificates in 2021. In June, a US Appeals Court revived a challenge to the law which, if successful, would enable transgender-identified individuals in the state of Oklahoma to falsify their birth sex.