Man gets 25 years for sexual relationship with minor
A Huntingtown man received 25 years of incarceration for recurring incidents in 2011 and 2014 where he had sexual relations with a juvenile in both Calvert and Charles counties.
Lionel O’Brian Lee, 32, was initially indicted on 47 charges, including the sexual abuse of a minor, second-degree sex offense, third-degree sex offense and second-degree rape, online court records show.
On Nov. 3, 2016, Det. Long of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office met with the 17-year-old victim in reference to a sexual child abuse complaint. According to previous reports, the victim — who was 11 at the time the incidents started in 2010 — told Lee she had a dream they had sexual intercourse together, prompting Lee to ask if she wanted to “try it.” The two began engaging in intercourse while her mother was at work.
Lee started the sexual relationships by touching her on the outside of her clothes, which progressed to his performing a sex act on her. After two months, Lee began engaging in intercourse. The victim recalled after the first couple times beginning to feel uncomfortable and turning down the sexual advances, previous reports show. When she resisted, Lee would allegedly put a blanket over her face and force her to engage in intercourse.
The victim told officers she had sex with Lee on a regular basis until Lee moved to La Plata around October 2014. She estimates engaging in intercourse with Lee between 25 and 50 times in Calvert County. She also detailed exchanging texts of nude photographs with Lee.
Lee was incarcerated at the detention center, serving a sentence for a separate case before authorities were alerted to the crimes. As he was allowed to leave the detention center for work release, he began texting the victim regularly. After the victim’s boyfriend saw the text messages on her phone and was informed of the situation, he encouraged her to alert authorities.
Just before midnight Nov. 3, the victim texted Lee asking how he was and they engaged in a conversation about their sexual activity. In the conversation, Lee admitted having sex with her “well over a couple hundred times,” according to the reports in Calvert and Charles counties.
On Nov. 4, Long and Det. Rector of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Calvert County Detention Center to make contact with Lee when he returned from work release. They seized his phone pending a search warrant when he pulled into the parking lot.
Long spoke with Lee in a detention center room, where he agreed to answer detectives’ questions without an attorney present after hearing his Miranda rights. In the interview, Lee admitted to texting the victim that morning and engaging in sexual intercourse in Calvert County and La Plata.
On July 20, Lee entered a guilty plea to sex abuse of a minor and an Alford plea to second-degree rape. An Alford plea is when a defendant agrees the state has enough evidence for a conviction without making an admission of guilt. A mental health assessment was completed before Oct. 2 sentencing.
At the sentencing Monday morning, Lee received 25 years of active incarceration. A mandatory 15 years must be served without parole, deputy state’s attorney Kathryn Marsh explained. Lee will have lifetime supervision monitored by the Sexual Offender Management Program of Parole and Probation and he will also be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Lee is also indicted in Charles County on sex abuse of a minor and third-degree sex offense charges. His next court proceeding on this matter is an Oct. 19 motions hearing with a potential jury trial date of Feb. 5 if no plea is reached. Lee’s