Plea hearing set in lewd conduct case

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man accused of lewd conduct and sexual abuse of a minor is scheduled to enter pleas to the charges on Monday.

The plea hearing comes as Lee Arlen Teal neared trial on the felony sex crime charge, court records show. Teal is scheduled to enter the pleas on what would have been the eve of his trial in 1st District Court, records show.

Teal is accused of fondling the breasts of an 11-year-old girl in November and December of last year, when he was 38 and the alleged victim was 11. He’s further accused of touching the girl’s genitals in November of last year.

Teal, 39, was ordered to stand trial after the alleged victim testified of the abuse during a preliminary hearing in January. He pleaded not guilty to the charges that same month.

The allegations against Teal emerged after a Lake Pend Oreille School District elementary school received a third-party email disclosing the abuse, according to a sheriff detective’s probable cause affidavit. The alleged victim told investigators and Idaho Department of Health & Welfare officials that Teal had touched her inappropriately.

Teal agreed to be questioned by detectives. He recalled roughhousing with the girl, but not touching her breasts, the affidavit said. He told investigators he may have touched them, but that the contact was merely incidental, the affidavit said.

Teal was accused of touching a 13-year-old’s breasts in a Sandpoint Police investigation dating back to 2014. The teen later denied the allegations, but recanted the denial in 2015, according to court documents. Teal, however, ultimately escaped prosecution in that case, court records show.

Teal is charged with two counts of sexual abuse of a minor and one count of lewd and lascivious conduct.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.