MADISON – A former central Wisconsin sheriff’s deputy who resigned last year after USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin revealed he had been accused of rape is now facing criminal charges in connection with those allegations.
Lee Lech stood mute at a court appearance Thursday in Dane County, where he was charged in late September with second-degree sexual assault and attempted second-degree sexual assault stemming from an incident in Madison.
Lech, who is married and owns a home in Port Edwards near Wisconsin Rapids, is free on a $1,000 signature bond, court records show.
The charges stem from Lech’s employment as a deputy with the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, a position he held before abruptly resigning and later taking a job in Clark County several years ago. He was hired in Clark County by a former coworker who claimed Lech had a clean job history in Oneida County.
According to the criminal complaint:
In October 2011, Lech and a female colleague from Oneida County traveled to Madison to attend a training. The night before the event, they had dinner, went to a strip club and ended up back at their hotel around 4 a.m.
While they had separate rooms, Lech asked the woman whether she had any snacks and Alka-Seltzer, which she did, so they both went to her room.
The woman told police she didn’t think Lech was going to stay, but when she returned from the bathroom after changing clothes, Lech was on the bed watching television.
The woman then got into bed and pulled the covers up to her neck with her face and body pointed away from Lech.
That’s when the assault allegedly occurred. Prosecutors accuse Lech of forcefully grabbing and restraining the woman against her will during the rape and also trying to force oral sex.
Lech allegedly vomited after the assault and then left the woman’s hotel room, at which point she says she locked the door’s deadbolt.
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin is not publishing the graphic details of the alleged attack as described in the criminal complaint. The news organization also is not identifying the accuser because she is allegedly a victim of a sex crime.
The woman sought medical attention for serious injuries after the assault, records show.
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