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Kent County doctor charged with criminal sexual conduct

Posted at 3:26 PM, Jan 31, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-31 20:20:47-05

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A Kent County addiction doctor has been arrested and charged with three counts of criminal sexual conduct.

The Kent County Sheriff's office started investigating allegations of inappropriate contact by Dr. Steven Scranton at the West Brook Recovery Center in late November.

Investigators say they received several other allegations reported by patients of Dr. Scranton as they investigated.  They also say that he had been seeing patients at another facility as recently as last week.  His contract with West Brook was terminated when the investigation began.

"West Brook Recovery Center actually called us because they had learned a couple of patients had come forward and made some allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior [against Dr. Scranton]," said Sgt. Joel Roon with the Kent County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies executed a search warrant at Dr. Scranton's home in Rockford Monday and took him into custody.  Tuesday, the Kent County Prosecutor charged Scranton with one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, force or coercion.

Roon says the charges are for three different victims, women in their late 20s to late 40s.  He says Dr. Scranton is accused of making several sexually inappropriate statements, which allegedly sometimes progressed to sexually inappropriate contact with patients.

Although Dr. Scranton has only been charged with three counts of criminal sexual conduct, investigators believe there are six confirmed victims between Grand Rapids and Petoskey, where he used to practice at West Brook's other facility.  Police believe there are more victims, and additional charges are possible in the case.

Anyone with further information about Dr. Scranton is asked to contact Kent County detectives at 616-632-6192 or 616-632-6136.  You can also contact Silent Observer at 616-774-2345.

West Brook Recovery Center released a statement Wednesday.  It reads:

An investigation is being conducted by the Kent County Sheriff's Department regarding Dr. Steven E. Scranton, M.D. We cannot share further details, at the investigators' request, as sharing information may hinder their investigation. Further, West Brook is subject to HIPPA and other privacy rules and therefore restricted regarding the information that can be disclosed.

This is what we can share: For some years, West Brook has contracted with Steven Edward Scranton, M.D. to provide medical services to West Brook's patients. Dr. Scranton's relationship with West Brook was that of an independent contractor.

In mid-November 2017, a West Brook employee shared with West Brook's management information about possible improper statements and conduct by Dr. Scranton. Patients had confided in the West Brook employee, but did not wish to report the misconduct publicly. West Brook immediately reviewed the information available at that time, deemed it credible, and took action: West Brook terminated Dr. Scranton's contract, ended all affiliation with Dr. Scranton, and rescheduled all of his patients with other physicians.

In addition, West Brook promptly reported the matter to the Kent County Sheriff's Department and continues to cooperate fully with that investigation. Finally, although complaints to the State of Michigan against a physician's license are typically made by individual patients, West Brook prepared and filed a complaint with the State of Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.