Michael Lunday, Canadian County Sheriff’s Office
An Oklahoma lawyer was arrested in a “To Catch a Predator”-style sting operation at a home where hidden cameras allegedly caught him expressing his intent to rape a 5-year-old girl and “warm himself up” with child pornography.
Michael Dwaine Lunday, 55, was booked on the evening of March 2 on charges of lewd or indecent proposals or acts to a child and child prostitution, Canadian County jail records reviewed by Law&Crime show. The Canadian County Sheriff’s Office announced Lunday’s arrest in a press release that stated “Another Predator” had been “Caught.”
The “To Catch a Predator” TV show hosted by Chris Hansen, which involved undercover law enforcement officers posing as children at a residence with hidden cameras rolling, first gained popularity in the mid-2000s, as its host interviewed men about what they thought when they showed up to allegedly meet with minors for sexual abuse. Lunday, an Oklahoma City attorney by trade, is accused of providing similar details while being recorded by sheriff’s investigators.
“Investigators with the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office used hidden cameras in the residence, and deputies were staged inside the house to effect Lunday’s arrest,” the sheriff’s office noted.
Lunday allegedly drove to a residence in Mustang under the belief that he would be able to sexually abuse a 5-year-old girl there. Authorities said that a female confidential informant or CI told them about a man trying to “meet for sex with an underaged child,” as the sheriff’s office described it. The CI allegedly arranged the meeting after contacting the defendant through texts and phone calls.
“Lunday told the CI that he would bring condoms and lubrication to facilitate sexual intercourse. Lunday agreed to meet the CI at a residence in Mustang in order to finalize the details prior to the purchase of the child for sex,” the sheriff’s office said.
Hidden cameras allegedly caught the defendant telling the CI that he preferred to sexually abuse younger girls because it doesn’t affect them as much and that he “wanted to watch child pornography before the child arrived in order to warm himself up and settle his nerves,” as the press release worded it. The defendant then allegedly admitted watching child pornography in the past, took Viagra, and detailed a fantasy of performing a sex act on a child as an adult woman looked on.
As in “To Catch a Predator,” hidden investigators emerged after the suspect allegedly took a significant step in furtherance of the offense.
“Lunday was taken into custody at the CI’s residence on Thursday after $400.00 was exchanged with the CI to be split between the CI and a fictitious foster-parent providing the child,” the sheriff’s office said, pointing to a damning piece of evidence going to the suspect’s alleged intent. “Investigators found a receipt in the CI’s kitchen showing that Lunday had stopped at a Target (just minutes before he arrived at the CI’s house) and purchased condoms and lubrication to be used during sex with the fictitious five-year-old.”
The next day, investigators raided the attorney’s home and seized various devices. The sheriff’s office is now looking to uncover whether there are more victims in the case.
As of Monday morning, the Oklahoma Bar Association website lists Lunday as an active member in good standing who was admitted to the bar in 2007.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
