Oxnard Man to Stand Trial on Sex Charges

An Oxnard man accused of trying to pay for sex with a 3-year-old girl must stand trial on sex charges, a judge ruled Thursday after hearing graphic testimony from a policewoman and a prostitute.

An undercover police officer who had posed as the mother of a preschooler told Ventura Municipal Judge Thomas J. Hutchins that Marc Charles Leege promised to be gentle with her child.

“He told me several times that he would never hurt her--that it would be a love experience,” Ventura Police Officer Terri Vujea testified.

Leege, 38, will stand trial Jan. 18 on charges of pandering and soliciting sex from a minor following the completion of testimony at his preliminary hearing.

Leege has been in custody in lieu of $250,000 bail since police arrested him Dec. 7 outside the Motel 6 on Harbor Boulevard in Ventura. He has pleaded not guilty.

Police set up a sting operation after a prostitute told them that Leege had talked about buying her young daughter for sex, Ventura Police Cpl. Glen Young testified. The informant set up a meeting between Leege and Vujea, who posed as the mother of a fictitious 3-year-old girl, Young said.

In the hotel room, Vujea displayed two photographs of her “daughter”--one showing a young girl wearing a pink dress and the other showing the girl sitting nude on a toilet, the policewoman testified.

When Vujea described a variety of sexual acts and asked Leege what he wanted to do to the girl, she testified that the defendant responded: “Whatever comes up.” But he said he wasn’t going to hurt her, Vujea told the court.

Leege agreed to pay $200 for three to four hours with the little girl the following day, Vujea testified. He also indicated he would be interested in seeing the little girl again and would be interested in other young girls that Vujea could supply, the officer said.

“He said he worked a lot and that this was pleasure,” she said.

Just before Leege left the hotel room, Vujea asked him to pick one of the photos to take with him, the officer testified. He picked the nude shot, Vujea said.