A Sandy dentist surrendered to authorities Thursday on charges of illegally prescribing drugs to a female patient.
Documents filed in 3rd Circuit Court indicate that Dr. Robert W. Owens prescribed the drugs in exchange for sexual favors.Owens, 50, was charged with four counts of falsely prescribing a controlled substance, a third-degree felony. He is accused of issuing a series of prescriptions for Percocet, Lortab and other substances to a woman, knowing that they were not for medical or dental conditions.
Some of the prescriptions were written in the name of the woman's daughter, the charges state.
Owens appeared before Commissioner Judith Atherton and was then booked into the Salt Lake County Jail. He was to be interviewed to be released to PreTrial Services.
"Dr. Owens is a good man, a respected, trusted dentist of almost 20 years," said defense attorney John T. Nielson. "His patients and others should know none of this detracts from his competence or his ability to practice dentistry."
Nielson said this case is not like other recent high profile cases involving dentists.
The woman told Salt Lake County sheriff's detectives she went to Owens' office in March and filled out the paperwork required of new patients, including a medical history statement. On the statement, she listed that she had received breast implants.
According to a search warrant, Owens rubbed against her breasts during the initial examination and commented that he had never seen implants before. The woman, described as a substance abuser, was allegedly given prescriptions in exchange for allowing Owens to touch her breasts.
Since the initial visit, the woman returned to Owens' office at 8045 S. 700 East "every few days" to perform sex acts on Owens in exchange for controlled substances, the court documents state.
The woman said no dental work was performed during the visits. She also said the doctor's staff became so suspicious that she had to begin meeting Owens at his office after hours. The woman apparently filled the prescriptions and sometimes sold them for $8 to $10 a tablet, according to the warrant.
Investigators wired the woman during her last visit to the dentist two weeks ago and heard "noise and conversation not consistent with a dental exam," the documents state. The woman was allegedly given a prescription for Percocet at the end of the appointment.
Investigators confiscated records from the dentist's office and reported that the prescriptions written for the woman and her daughter were not charted.
Owens is accused of prescribing the false prescriptions on four different occasions during June and July.
He was ordered to appear in court Aug. 19.