Man charged with alleged sexual abuse of 3rd victim

Published 10:00 pm Monday, February 26, 2018

A Zumbro Falls man already charged in Freeborn County District Court with sexually assaulting two people younger than 13 was charged Monday with allegedly sexually assaulting a third child.

Michael Robert Lee, 54, is charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Michael Robert Lee

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Court documents state Lee was charged after he allegedly sexually assaulted a girl he knew beginning when she was 3 to 4 years old.

The sexual assaults allegedly took place over an approximately five-year period in Freeborn and Mower counties.

In a statement to a Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office detective, Lee reportedly denied sexually abusing the alleged victim, saying, “I can’t say that I done anything. I don’t think I did.”

Judge Ross Leuning set conditional bail at $35,000. Lee’s next appearance is scheduled for March 8.

Lee is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct in two other files.

Court documents state Lee was charged in one file after a Freeborn County detective was investigating a sexual assault case involving a juvenile victim earlier this month. When interviewing the adult witness, the witness reportedly said he was sexually assaulted by Lee when he was younger than 11 years old.

In the other file, Lee was charged after he allegedly sexually assaulted a girl he knew when she was 3 or 4 years old. The assaults reportedly happened “many times,” over about nine years, court documents state.

Settlement conferences on the two files are scheduled for April 11, and jury trials are expected to start June 26, if the cases have not been settled by then.

As of Monday afternoon, Lee was in jail.

Lee was sentenced to one year in jail in March 2016 after pleading guilty to one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct for engaging in sexual conduct with a girl younger than 13. He was placed on probation for up to 25 years in that file.

About Sam Wilmes

Sam Wilmes covers crime, courts and government for the Albert Lea Tribune.

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