CEO of KC-area pharma company faces domestic violence allegations — again
Prosecutors filed a battery charge against the chief executive officer of a Kansas City, Kansas, pharmaceutical company on Saturday, following an alleged domestic violence incident.
The charge comes as Shane Schaffer, the CEO of Cingulate, was already on probation following another incident of alleged domestic violence involving the same victim last September.
Schaffer was charged with aggravated domestic battery, a felony, in Johnson County District Court Saturday.
Prosecutors alleged Schaffer impeded the “normal breathing or circulation of the blood by applying pressure on the throat, neck or chest” of a woman he was in a relationship with. The victim of the alleged battery is listed as the same victim from the prior incident in September.
In a statement, Schaffer’s attorney, Brandan Davies, said, “Dr. Schaffer has done nothing wrong. Kansas law K.S.A. 22-2307 requires officers to make an arrest when they are called out on an allegation of domestic violence and they have probable cause to believe any crime has occurred. Probable cause is one of the lowest standards of proof recognized by Kansas courts.
“We trust that the justice system will work in this case and ultimately the truth will come to light,” he said.
Court records indicated Schaffer posted a $50,000 bond.
Schaffer made an initial appearance in court Tuesday afternoon, according to court records. Another hearing was scheduled for Sept. 26.
Schaffer was also charged with aggravated domestic battery for the September incident, and as part of a plea agreement in January, he pleaded no contest to a count of endangering, a misdemeanor, and was placed on probation for a year, according to court records. The sentence also came with an underlying 360-day jail sentence if his probation was revoked.
Schaffer’s probation terms included no violent contact with the victim and an order to receive domestic violence and substance abuse evaluations. Schaffer had completed the domestic violence assessment and was scheduled to start classes, court documents from a May compliance review hearing said.
A spokesperson for Cingulate did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Last week, Cingulate, a publicly traded company, hailed the submission of a new attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, drug to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for review.
“With a differentiated profile supported by robust clinical data, we believe CTx-1301 (the drug) has the potential to capture meaningful share in the $23 billion U.S. ADHD market, bringing us closer to delivering long-term value for our shareholders as we transition from a development-stage company to a commercial organization,” Schaffer said in an Aug. 6 press release about the submission.
