Drug court technician accused of sexual abuse
By Traci Chapman
Staff Writer
A 56-year-old technician who regularly dealt with participants in Canadian County Drug Court stands accused of sexually abusing some of those individuals, facing five felony counts of sexual battery as a result.
Paul Compton
Prosecutors said Paul Compton of Yukon used his position as a urinalysis specimen collector for Innovative Court Solutions to allegedly make sexual advances on females taking part in the drug court program, both through physical actions and inappropriate statements. The case was filed April 18 by assistant district attorney Eric Epplin, after an investigation by Canadian County Sheriff’s office, including Lt. Mike Grimes, who prepared and signed the warrant for the Yukon man’s arrest.
Participants in the county’s drug court take part in a long and rigorous program designed to address the root of drug-related offenses, rather than going straight to incarceration, officials said. The strategy has been recognized for its successes beyond Canadian County and praised by several of those individuals who successfully completed it.
As part of the program’s stipulations, participants must undergo weekly urinalysis testing. That led to the court’s contract with Innovative Court Solutions. Officials said ICS utilized the offices of Second Chance And Reentry Services – or SCARS – located in both El Reno and Mustang.
According to documents filed by the prosecution, Compton’s alleged activities went back to July through October 2017. It was at SCARS’ El Reno location Compton allegedly inappropriately and unlawfully touched five drug court participants, prosecutors said. His conduct rose to the level of sexual battery because of his position of “supervision of and authority over” those women, according to court filings.
Victim statements were substantiated by county computer crimes unit forensic examinations of the Yukon man’s electronic devices, Sheriff Chris West said.
Initially held on $100,000 bond at Canadian County Jail, Compton the evening of his arrest posted bond and was released, the sheriff said.
If convicted, each of the five counts lodged against Compton could yield up to 10 years in prison, according to state statutes. No hearings have yet been set in the case.
