Man Pleads Guilty in Child Sex Case

An Oxnard man accused of trying to pay for sex with a 3-year-old-girl pleaded guilty in Ventura County Superior Court on Thursday to four felony charges.

Marc Charles Leege, 38, has been in custody in lieu of $250,000 bail since police arrested him outside a Ventura motel Dec. 7.

Police set up a sting operation after a prostitute told them that Leege had talked about buying her young daughter for sex. The informant set up a meeting between Leege and a policewoman who posed as the mother of a fictitious 3-year-old girl. The meeting was videotaped and served as the centerpiece of the prosecution’s case.

Leege had faced up to 12 years in prison for the two counts of soliciting to commit lewd acts with a child under 14 and two counts of pandering. But Judge Charles W. Campbell said Leege would receive just six to eight years in prison if he pleaded guilty.

Leege will be sentenced on March 15.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Pachowicz said he was severely disappointed with Campbell’s leniency.

“This guy graphically described what he would do to a 3-year-old and what he has done to other little girls in the past,” Pachowicz said. “It is vile, repulsive, disgusting--and it’s all on tape.

“To think the criminal justice system gave him a break makes me sick. Leege should have been incarcerated for the longest time possible.”