Fresno lawyer charged in lewd acts case with children faces additional charges

A Fresno lawyer was arrested Thursday for lewd acts with children, his second arrest in less than a month, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office reports.

Steven Michael Matlak, 40, who specializes in business law, trusts and estates, was first arrested on July 28 on other lewd acts allegations and was free on bail.

He was re-arrested on Thursday and new allegations were added to those previously filed, said Steve Wright, assistant district attorney.

“We will be reviewing the case for potential additional charges,” he said.

Sheriff’s detectives say they first got a report on July 27 from a woman who said her 5-year-old daughter had told her Matlak photographed and touched the girl inappropriately while she was naked. Coincidentally, detectives developed information the following day that Matlak had done something similar with a 9-year-old girl, who is not related, said Tony Botti, Fresno County Sheriff’s spokesman.

Matlak was arrested and jailed on July 28 and bailed out the following week.

Following Matlak’s release from jail, detectives continued their investigation and learned he had apparently victimized other children. Detectives interviewed them, then re-arrested Matlak on Thursday on a new set of charges.

Detectives say Matlak knew all of his victims from prior interactions with them and their families. They served search warrants at Matlak’s workplace and home, seizing his electronic devices to look for evidence.

The case was triggered after the mother of the 5-year-old victim had a talk with her daughter about good touching and bad touching, Botti said. Following that conversation, the girl told her mother about her encounter with Matlak earlier this year and she called detectives.

Roger Nuttall, Matlak’s lawyer, said Matlak is “a highly respected attorney.”

“The charges are serious but I haven’t seen the complaints,” Nuttall said.

Matlak’s bail is set at $380,000, according to Fresno County Jail records.

If anyone has more information about Matlak, they should call sheriff’s detective Walden O’Neill at 559-600-8203.

This story was originally published August 11, 2017 at 2:31 PM with the headline "Fresno lawyer charged in lewd acts case with children faces additional charges."