Accused masseur convicted before

A Newport Beach massage therapist accused of sexually assaulting a client during a massage session has prior sexual battery convictions in Orange County, police said Friday as they asked other alleged victims to come forward.

“We think it’s a possibility there are more victims,” Newport Beach Police Sgt. Evan Sailor said.

Both Newport Beach Police and the Orange County prosecutors issued news releases Friday asking people with any information on Steven Wesley Lovell, 50, to come forward.

Lovell is charged with felony sexual battery by fraud, felony sexual battery by restraint and felony possession of a firearm by someone who was previously convicted of battery.

Bail was set at $100,000 at an arraignment Friday in Orange County Superior Court. Lovell is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing Oct. 2.

A 53-year-old Newport Beach woman alleges Lovell asked her to take off her top and bra during a massage session and then assaulted her, prosecutors said.

She also accuses the massage therapist of restraining her while kissing her neck and stomach, authorities said. The woman visited Lovell’s business seeking relief for her back pain after she was referred there by a friend.

“(Lovell) was able to reach under the woman’s body and touch her bare breasts with his hand and manipulate them in skin-to-skin contact,” Sailor said.

Lovell, who owns the massage business Care of the Body, 215 Riverside Ave., pleaded guilty to three counts of misdemeanor sexual battery in 1999 and was sentenced to 150 days in jail and three years of unsupervised probation.

A former chiropractor, Lovell’s license was revoked in July 2005 as a result of disciplinary action by the California Board of Chiropractic Examiners, according to the board’s online records. The revocation was a response to a complaint filled against Lovell in April 2003.

Lovell has worked as a certified personal trainer since 2005, police said.

Authorities ask anyone with possible information to call (800) 550-NBPD. Messages may be left anonymously.

ALICIA ROBINSON may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at [email protected]. BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].