EDITOR'S NOTE: The Brad Sterling Morse who was indicted by the multi county grand jury is actually Morse Sr., not Jr. The misidentification occurred because of erroneous information supplied to law enforcement authorities by Morse Sr. himself.
OKLAHOMA CITY – The former CEO of McCurtain Memorial Hospital in Idabel was indicted this month by a state multicounty grand jury on five felony counts of sexual battery.
Brad Sterling Morse Jr., 56, of Broken Bow, was processed through the McCurtain County jail and then released from custody on a $75,000 bond ensuring he would appear in court to answer the charges. Morse was arraigned on March 11 and a conference was scheduled for March 24, at which time a preliminary hearing date will be set, a court official told Southwest Ledger.
The indictments issued March 3 allege that between Dec. 1, 2018, and Feb. 16, 2022, Morse “intentionally touched and/or felt in a lewd and lascivious manner” five women who worked at the hospital.
McAlester attorney Warren Gotcher filed a pleading on March 7, asking the court to dismiss the charges against Morse “for the reason that the indictment does not conform with multicounty grand jury statutes…” The statute limits the grand jury’s subject matter jurisdiction to “certain crimes.” Sexual battery is not among the crimes listed, Gotcher wrote.
Accusations against Morse of sexual harassment had already been aired publicly before he was fired the day after allegations surfaced that he and a subordinate were seen engaging in sex shortly after the conclusion of a virtual meeting that was broadcast over the internet by a camera that hadn’t been turned off.
Morse was fired by the hospital’s Medical Management Board of Trustees during a special meeting Feb. 18 following an 80-minute closed-door executive session and after hearing from three women who alleged Morse treated them inappropriately. The termination vote was unanimous.
Morse’s dismissal occurred nine months to the day after the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, at the request of District Attorney Mark Matloff, launched an “inquiry” into allegations that Morse had physically assaulted several McCurtain Memorial Hospital employees.
After OSBI investigators interviewed three women who claimed Morse touched them inappropriately during their employment at the hospital, Matloff asked the OSBI to elevate its activities from an inquiry to a full investigation. Subsequently five employees who claimed Morse touched them improperly were interviewed by the OSBI.
At the conclusion of an investigation that extended for almost six months, the OSBI submitted a 116-page report that was critical of the hospital and its CEO.
During a meeting of the McCurtain Memorial Hospital Authority board on Nov. 15, 2021, County Commissioner Jimmy Westbrook called for the resignations of Morse and Walter Frey, then-chairman of the McCurtain Memorial Medical Management Board of Directors. When Morse declined, Westbrook declared, “Fine. I now move to call for a grand jury investigation.”
DA Matloff submitted the necessary paperwork for a grand jury to the state Attorney General’s Office last November. The 19th multicounty grand jury was impaneled in January in Oklahoma City, and Morse was indicted on March 3.
Frey was killed in a traffic accident on Dec. 8, 2021.