George P. Lee, former LDS Church general authority, is expected to surrender to authorities next week on charges that he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl in 1989.
Investigators say he fondled the girl at his home and during official trips he made as a member of the church's First Quorum of Seventy.Lee, 50, was charged Thursday with aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony that carries a maximum penalty of five years to life in prison. The single charge accuses him of fondling the girl at his West Jordan home while talking to her about polygamy.
Lee declined to comment when contacted at Arizona's Tuba City High School, where he is principal. However, his attorney David Sanders strongly denies the allegations and says they are "very made up."
According to the complaint filed in 3rd Circuit Court, the girl said Lee was in bed with her some time during the summer of 1989 and put his hand on her breasts, buttocks and genitals after talking to her about polygamy. She also described more than five similar acts in Utah and other states.
Lee was excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sept. 1 of that year for "apostasy and other conduct unbecoming a member of the church. The current charges against him were not known at that time," the church said in a statement issued Thursday.
The victim, now 16, did not report the incidents until January 1993. The allegations were told to a Division of Family Services worker, who filed a report with the Salt Lake County sheriff's office. The FBI has also assisted in the investigation.
The girl is a friend of one of Lee's daughters and said she spent time with the Lee family from the time she was 9 years old until she was 12.
"Sometimes when the two girls were going to bed, he'd go in and give them a goodnight kiss, but that's about the extent of it," Sanders said.
The girl would sometimes accompany Lee's daughter when they traveled to conferences in other states while he served as a general authority for the church. Lee is accused of fondling her during trips to Arizona, Canada and Lake Powell, according to a sheriff's report.
But Sanders said those incidents never occurred either and said other members of his family would surely have known about them if they had happened. "He was always accompanied by family members at almost every point."
Sanders said it is premature to determine what kind of motive the victim may have to make such allegations against his client but said he has a "guess" that it may stem from a "falling out" between families.
He said the girl's family once lived near the Lee family and Lee often assisted them, even financially. "You start helping somebody and a little is not enough . . . and then there's a falling out, a `what have you done for me lately' " attitude, Sanders said.
The attorney also balked at the allegation that Lee abused the girl while discussing polygamy. "That's a real stretch," he said. "It shows the charges are very made up."
Prosecutors filed the charge as a first-degree felony because Lee "occupied a position of special trust to the victim" as a religious leader and because the incidents are said to have occurred more than five times, the charges state.
When asked about other alleged victims, sheriff's spokesman Rod Norton said others have made allegations against Lee, but he declined to elaborate. "At this point, this is the only victim presented to the county attorney for a criminal filing," he said.
"It would surprise me if they could find anyone," Sanders said, when asked about other victims.
Norton said it is not uncommon for sex-abuse victims to wait years before reporting a crime. "Usually, you have to take into consideration 90 percent of the cases involve someone who is an important figure in their (victims') life," he said. Such victims aren't usually comfortable about telling someone.
"The perpetrators are often very good at manipulating the victims into thinking what they're doing is right or that it's acceptable by other adults," Norton said.
Some perpetrators also coerce victims not to reveal the acts by saying things like, "If you tell Mom, they're going to take you away. They won't let you stay with us," Norton explained. Or, "If you tell Mom, I'll hurt Mom."
School officials in Arizona were to meet Friday to discuss whether Lee should continue as principal of the school on the Indian reservation in light of the charge.
Sanders said he is disappointed with the way the Salt Lake County attorney's office filed the charges without the knowledge of him or his client. He said he heard about the allegations months ago and asked prosecutors to allow him to participate in the investigations and to keep him informed.
Sanders said prosecutor Greg Skordas promised him he would tell him if he heard about such a case, but Sanders didn't find out about the charges until hours after they were filed.
"He knew this was an important thing to my client. He's a principal at a high school and is well-respected," Sanders said. "I think they kept it from me and wanted to make a big play . . . I don't think it's very professional."
Skordas said he doesn't recall speaking with Sanders.
Lee was the first general authority in 46 years to be excommunicated from the church. He said he felt church leaders were causing a "scriptural and spiritual slaughter of the Indians" and accused them of "sinning against God" by distorting doctrine, relegating Indians to status of second-class citizens and keeping them from their rightful place in church theology.
He told reporters then his excommunication had nothing to do with "moral misconduct."
Bail has been set at $1,500, which is unusually low for a first-degree felony. Investigators said they have no reason to believe Lee will flee.