A longtime Shawnee veterinarian who resides in Lincoln County was taken into custody recently after a judge initially denied the request for an arrest warrant.
District Attorney Allan Grubb confirmed last Thursday, Dec. 26, that Michael Lee Steward was arrested on Thursday, Dec. 19 and taken to the Pottawatomie County Public Safety Center in Shawnee.
His arrest was for alleged lewd acts with a minor under 16, sexual battery and assault and battery.
Grubb said Steward has not been officially charged with any of those allegations. He was released on a $10,000 bond, according to an affidavit and verified by the DA.
Steward did not respond to an attempt to obtain comments from him.
Special Judge David Cawthon initially denied the affidavit of probable cause for issuance of an arrest warrant, Grubb said. The affidavit alleged one count of lewd acts with a minor under the age of 16, five for sexual battery and one for assault and battery.
A copy of the affidavit shows Judge Cawthon denied the request on Wednesday, Dec. 18, after 5 p.m. but at the same time granted the DA’s request to resubmit it.
A note on the affidavit indicates the judge denied six counts due to insufficient information and there was one that was sufficient for a misdemeanor battery charge, not assault and battery.
The DA explained that Shawnee Police Detective Jason Crouch, who headed up the investigation, arrested Steward on an “Affidavit of Probable Cause for Warrantless Custodial Arrest” the next day without working with his office.
“He went out on his own and did that without waiting,” Grubb stated, referring to Crouch.
Grubb indicated he didn’t understand why Crouch didn’t wait for it to be resubmitted to Judge Cawthon since his office prepared a new one.
A copy of the “Affidavit of Probable Cause for Warrantless Custodial Arrest” shows that it was signed by Crouch. It shows it was signed by Judge Cawthon at 12 p.m. on Dec. 19, but the judge doesn’t include all the allegations.
According to the initial affidavit that was denied and the affidavit for the warrantless custodial arrest, Crouch prepared the information for both through his investigation that began on Nov. 1, 2019, after a report had been made about a possible sexual battery that had occurred at Shawnee Animal Hospital to an employee there two days prior on Oct. 30.
Steward is co-founder of the animal hospital that opened many years ago and still is a partner since 2017 when he went into a corporate partnership with Veterinary Practice Partners, the affidavit states.
Crouch said in the affidavit the employee came to the Shawnee Police Department on Nov. 4 to give him a statement about what happened on Oct. 30.