Sex Offender Arrested After Enid Police Say Student Found Him In School

Enid Police arrested a sex offender after investigators said a student found the man inside a school.

Police released body camera video showing the arrest of 44-year-old Michael Eugene Steele. A student at St. Joseph Catholic School found Steele at about 8 p.m. on Oct. 19 underneath a piano after hearing the man breathe, according to an incident report from the Enid Police Department. Investigators said Steele got into the school through an unlocked door.

Police said as the student was telling a custodian about the trespasser, Steele jumped up and ran into a school restroom. "He was later confronted by other adults from the school and escorted from the building without an issue," said Cass Rains, public information coordinator with the Enid Police Department.

Steele claimed he was underneath the piano inside the school because "people were after him," the police report said. 

The following day, the principal learned that Steele is a registered sex offender and reported the incident to police. "He is required to check in weekly with the Police Department," Rains explained.

Officers then arrested Steele on Monday on a complaint of failure to comply with the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registry Act. "After we took the report from the school, officers investigating sent out alerts to the entire Police Department," said Rains.

Body camera video of the arrest showed Steele telling officers he had been sleeping at a Walmart parking lot and other locations. But he denied being at the school.

According to records, Steele was convicted in 2010 in Cleveland County of first-degree rape and related charges involving a child. He initially served five-and-a-half years in prison but returned to prison for another four-and-a-half years because he violated his parole conditions, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

News 9 contacted the school for comment, and was given a statement from the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City that said the following:

“We want to extend our gratitude to the Enid Police Department for their prompt and effective response to this situation. We commend the officers involved for their dedication to keeping the community safe and thank them for their professionalism.”