A Cleveland County man is facing four felony counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child under 16 after a welfare check led investigators to allegations involving a juvenile. Michael Paquette is currently in custody after admitting to the acts, according to the Cleveland County District Attorney's Office, and he remains held on a $250,000 bond as his case moves through the courts.
The investigation began during a welfare check, according to the Cleveland County District Attorney's Office, which is investigating and prosecuting the case. Court records assign the prosecution case number CF-2026-773, and Paquette was formally arraigned on August 3. Per the DA's office, Paquette admitted to involvement in two separate incidents involving sexual acts with a juvenile, and he now faces four separate counts under the same statute — counts one through four — each charging lewd or indecent acts to a child under 16, as first reported by KFOR.
What the Charges Carry Under State Law
Each count against Paquette falls under Oklahoma Statute Title 21, Section 1123, which makes lewd or indecent proposals or acts to a child under 16 a felony punishable by one to 20 years in the state penitentiary per count, according to the statute as compiled by Justia. If Paquette had a prior conviction under the same statute, state law would bar any judge from granting probation, a suspended sentence, or a deferred sentence — though the dossier does not indicate whether that provision applies in his case. Separately, Oklahoma law increases the mandatory minimum sentence to 25 years when a victim is under age 12, per the Wirth Law Office; it is not specified in available records whether that enhancement applies here.
Under Oklahoma law, the age of legal consent is 16, meaning any claim of consent, flirtation, or initiation by a minor under that age cannot be used as a legal defense to lewd act charges, according to the Law Firm of Oklahoma. The $250,000 bond set in Paquette's case is consistent with amounts routinely sought by prosecutors in similar multi-count child sexual abuse cases across central Oklahoma, including a case Hoodline covered last month involving a former child welfare official held on an identical bond amount.
A District With a Recent History of Severe Sentences
The Cleveland County District Attorney's Office prosecutes felony cases across three central Oklahoma counties — Cleveland, Garvin, and McClain. The office is currently led by District Attorney Jennifer Austin, who took over after 18-year DA Greg Mashburn retired in March 2025 to become Director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, per records from Oklahoma.gov.
Cleveland County juries have shown little leniency in recent similar cases. In June, a Cleveland County jury recommended a 57-year prison sentence for a Norman man convicted under the same statute for lewd acts to a child under 16 and forcible sodomy, according to the DA's office. That outcome follows a pattern Hoodline has tracked locally, including a Moore church kitchen employee sentenced to 50 years in a separate child sex abuse case earlier this year.
How the Case Was Investigated
The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Division works alongside the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation through the regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to investigate child abuse claims, according to the DA's office. It is not specified in the available records whether that task force was directly involved in the Paquette investigation, but the partnership reflects how county and state agencies typically coordinate on cases involving child victims in the region.
Paquette's case remains in its early stages following his arraignment, and all four charges against him remain allegations that have not been proven in court. As the case proceeds, further hearings are expected to be filed and tracked through Cleveland County court records.
