photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

George Joseph Burgess, right, is pictured at his preliminary hearing next to his defense attorney, Dakota Loomis, on June 26, 2023.

A Lawrence man currently serving a prison sentence for identity theft was ordered to stand trial on Monday for 13 alleged sex crimes involving a 7-year-old girl, including two rapes.

George Joseph Burgess Jr., 44, is now charged in Douglas County District Court with two counts of rape and 11 counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. The charges are in connection with a series of events that allegedly occurred between 2017 and 2019.

He originally faced one count of rape and three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, as the Journal-World reported, but the additional counts were added after a preliminary hearing at which a child protection specialist with the Department for Children and Families testified that during a forensic interview in January 2022, the child told her about numerous incidents of Burgess allegedly sexually violating her.

The specialist said that the young girl detailed at least two incidents involving rape and at least 10 other incidents of inappropriate touching. The girl told the DFC specialist that the incidents occurred at a Lawrence motel.

The girl said an additional incident occurred at a now-closed motel, the DCF specialist said.

The DCF specialist testified that the girl first reported the abuse to an uncle, who then contacted police.

Burgess’ defense attorney, Dakota Loomis, told the DCF specialist that there were multiple reports from DCF involving sexual abuse of the child and that one of those reports alleged that another person had abused the girl. He asked the DCF specialist if she had read those reports; the specialist said she was aware of other reports but had read only the ones involving Burgess.

Judge Sally Pokorny said that the DCF specialist’s testimony was sufficient to bind Burgess over for trial. She then scheduled Burgess for arraignment on Thursday.

Burgess was convicted of two felonies in May 2022 for identity theft and removing an electronic monitoring device and is serving 22 months in prison, according to court records. He was also convicted at that time of three misdemeanor counts of violating a protection order or stalking.

Burgess was transported by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office from the Oswego Correctional Facility in southeast Kansas and is being held on a $100,000 cash or surety bond.