OKC Attorney Accused Of Sex Crimes Denied Curfew

A metro attorney accused of having sex with young girls in Peru is denied his request to modify terms of his house arrest.

Michael Billings is set to go to trial in December, but was asking for a curfew to be imposed on him until then. The federal magistrate judge listened to both sides in this case, and also listened to testimony from Billings’ current pastor before handing down her ruling.

Michael Billings and his attorney were noticeably disappointed as they left the federal courthouse, but they refused to make any comment about Wednesday’s decision. Billings did not take the stand during the hearing, but the senior pastor of his church did.

He testified how Michael Billings told him about the federal investigation into his many trips to Peru, and about the indictment that was handed up back in October of 2014 claiming he had sex with young girl at a local hotel there.

10/24/14 Related Story: Grand Jury Indicts OKC Attorney With Conspiracy For Engaging In Illicit Acts In Peru

The pastor testified Billings was very forthcoming about not wanting to harm the church if he chose to attend and said the congregation embraced him and loved him and treated him like anybody else. The pastor testified how Billings made sure to keep to himself, and made sure to stay away from kids at the church to meet the terms of his pretrial release.

Billings’ attorney brought up that Billings has had no violations during his nine months on house arrest, and only wants a little more freedom with his family. He said Billings has offered financial assistance and free legal advice to senior members of the church.

But, federal prosecutors contended that the investigation into this case is still ongoing and the conditions in place are there to protect children. In their response, they state Billings "has a demonstrated a pattern and admitted history of sexual urges toward minors (both in the United States and abroad)". They state "in more than one conversation with various confidential sources, some of which are recorded, the defendant spoke at length about sexual exploits with young girls in Bangkok". They state he also "made disturbing sexually explicit comments about teenage girls who visited his home".

During cross examination of the pastor, federal prosecutors asked if Billings’ involvement in two local strip clubs would affect the pastor’s judgment of his character and if it would sway his decision to support a curfew for Billings. The pastor stated it was not his decision to make and that was in the past and that he was still ok with Billings requesting a curfew to be put in place.

In his original court filing of his motion, Billings requested permission to be around children - so his children could have their friends over. But he and his attorney decided to remove that request when they went before the judge.

In the end, the judge sided with federal prosecutors - stating there should be no modification to the current conditions of pretrial release and for the attorney’s to work any requests for him to spend more time at church within the parameters currently in place.

Billings’ trial has been continued three times. It is currently set for December.