| For Immediate Release Case # 07HF1940 September 21, 2007 |
Contact: Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 |
FORMER CHIROPRACTOR TURNED MASSAGE
THERAPIST CHARGED WITH SEXUAL BATTERY
AND FIREARM CHARGES
NEWPORT BEACH – A former chiropractor turned massage therapist was charged and arraigned on felony sexual battery by fraud, felony sexual battery by restraint, and felony possession of a firearm by a person who was previously convicted of battery. Steven Wesley Lovell, 50, Newport Beach, was arraigned today and will be back in court for a pretrial on October 2, 2007, at the Harbor Justice Center, H-2, in Newport Beach. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to four years and eight months in state prison. The bail was set at $100,000.
On September 14, 2007, Jane Doe, 53, went to the defendant’s office located at 215 Riverside Avenue in Newport Beach to seek relief for her back pain. She was referred to the defendant by a male friend. Lovell was operating a massage business under the name of “Care of the Body.” In July 2006, Lovell’s license was revoked as a result of a disciplinary action by the Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
The defendant is accused of asking Jane Doe to remove her top and bra, aggressively kneading her breasts and buttocks, straddling her with an erection, restraining her movements and giving her wet kisses and on her stomach and neck. Newport Beach Police found two shotguns and three handguns in Lovell’s possession on September 19, 2007.
Anyone with additional information or who believes they may have been a victim is encouraged to call Supervising District Attorney Investigator Ed Berakovich at (714) 834-7538.
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