Man Who Taped Sex Acts Sentenced for Molestation

A Lancaster man who was caught and convicted of sexually molesting a young girl largely because of a videotape he made of the acts was sentenced Tuesday to 19 years in state prison.

Lancaster Superior Court Judge Thomas Stoever imposed sentence on Robert E. Lee Jr., 47, a former apartment manager and aircraft worker. Lee had pleaded no contest to three of 16 criminal counts in exchange for the 19-year term. He had faced up to 84 years if convicted on all the counts.

“This was the best child abuse case I ever had in terms of the evidence. It’s very rare we have any physical evidence at all in such cases,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Chesley McKay said.

Authorities learned of the molestation when Lee was arrested July 27 after deputies responded to a report of gunshots at the apartment of Lee’s adult son. The son had found and viewed the videotape and explicit photos of his father and the girl, and confronted his father with the gun.

In the videotape, seized by sheriff’s deputies at the time of Lee’s arrest, a man the girl identified as Lee coaches her to undress and perform oral sex while saying she wants to be a prostitute. McKay said the tape appeared aimed at advertising the girl to pedophiles, although there is no indication such activity actually occurred.

Lee pleaded no contest in late November to two felony counts of oral copulation with a victim under age 14 and one felony count of committing a lewd act upon a child. The girl, now 9, had said the sexual activity with Lee occurred for several years before his arrest.

The original charges accused Lee of molesting the girl between October, 1991, and July, 1992, while he lived in Lancaster, Canyon Country and Llano. Authorities believe he also molested her while previously living in Utah and Texas. He had admitted filming the videotape while in Texas.

A probation report said the girl is now living with her biological father and undergoing therapy. McKay said the plea bargain saved the girl from the trauma of testifying in a trial. Lee, according to the probation report, alleged that he was molested as a youngster by an older brother.