SACRAMENTO—
Attorneys for prominent real estate mogul Michael Lyon are in "damage control" mode after a scathing report on Lyon's divorce with allegations of potential criminal activity aired on a local television station Tuesday evening.Sourcing court documents obtained by the station, a report by KOVR "CBS13" led by anchor Sam Shane stated Lyon was the subject of an "ongiong criminal investigation in which Kim Lyon is a key witness" after the couple began divorce proceedings last year. Sealed court documents obtained by KOVR included a memo by Child Protective Services and a temporary order that states Lyon's children were not allowed to stay overnight at his home. The order also prevented Lyon from filmming or recording any person "without the subject's knowledge and consent.'
KOVR said Lyon affirmed a criminal investigation into "highly sensitive and potentially embarrassing personal information" was being conducted by a law enforcement agency, but the exact allegations were sealed by the court. Lyon affirmed during court proceedings that his wife had contacted the FBI at some point.
When questioned about the documents, KOVR was met with a "no comment" response by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office and Michael Lyon's attorney.
After KOVR's story aired during the "CBS13 News at 6:00pm," representatives with the FBI and Michael Lyon's business have released statements calling facts in the report "baseless accusations" and "false rumors."
"The media has considered their divorce to be news, which is unfortunate," Chief Operating Officer Jean Li with Lyon Real Estate said in an e-mail to FOX40 News, adding that the company is now committed to minimizing the effect of the report on Lyon's divorce on the company "now and in the future."
"Mike and Kim Lyon have been enduring a painful and emotional dissolution of their lengthy marriage," attorney Anthony Dick, who represents Michael Lyon, said by e-mail. "They beg that others understand and be respectful of their desire for and their right to privacy regarding the issues related to the dissolution of their marriage."
Dick went on to say that matters related to the KOVR interview, including questions surrounding what were in the sealed documents, would not be commented on.
A letter sent by the FBI to one of Lyon's attorneys following KOVR's story affirmed a criminal investigation was launched on behalf of the agency, but stated the investigation would end due to "insufficient evidence available that would justify the filing of federal criminal charges." The letter was dated August 24th and was addressed to attorney William Portanova.
Some are wondering whether the story aired by KOVR on Tuesday was newsworthy, and question whether or not the piece itself brought unnecessary damage to the reputation of Michael Lyon.
"The media has no business reporting on a story based entirely on innuendo, colored by insinuation," a KOVR commenter wrote on the station's website underneath the story. "If there is no proof to what is being printed or aired, this is completely unethical. Media coverage like this not only hurts the person, but I can only imagine how this has hurt the children who still have to attend school."
"[KOVR] could care less about those families who depend upon Lyon to live," another commenter, who stated they worked for Lyon Real Estate, wrote. "It's all about sensationalism and what sells. And what sells is other people's personal business."
Professional journalists from the Sacramento area also took issue with the KOVR story, citing journalism ethics when questioning whether the story should have aired.
"The casual listener heard something like, 'Mike Lyon is under F.B.I. investigation for pedophilia and filming sex acts of minors,'" Sacramento business journalist Phillip Larrea wrote on Examiner.com. "CBS13 [had] no business reporting on a story based entirely on innuendo, colored by insinuation."
The criminal investigation against Lyon never specifically mentioned what crimes Lyon was suspected of committing.
On her Twitter.com page, KFBK news editor Judy Farah said the KOVR story on Michael Lyon was "bad reporting," adding that the story wrapped up a "sad/bad day of [Sacramento] journalism."
Overall, the station had received more than 40 comments on their website one day after the story's publication. Out of the 40 comments, four were entirely critical of Michael Lyon, and none were supportive of the station.
KOVR posted an update within the story containing the FBI letter that cleared Lyon of criminal wrongdoing, but did not follow up with new information from the FBI letter during their hour-long 4:00pm newscast or the half-hour 5:00pm and 6:00pm newscasts Thursday. The station updated their story during the "CBS13 News at 10pm" with the new information from the FBI, but only after FOX40.com's first publication of this article. The station also read some comments from their viewers.
The story had been removed from the homepage Wednesday and was only available in the archives of the website.
