photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured in March of 2022. The center houses the Douglas County District Court and other county services.

A teen girl took the stand on Thursday and testified that a man sexually assaulted her multiple times and that, once police were involved, attempted to bribe her to change her story.

The accused, Mark Brent Lee, 41, is charged in Douglas County District Court with one count of rape, one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and one count of aggravated intimidation of a witness, all felonies. The girl 14 years old at the time of the alleged assaults between December 2023 and May 2024.

Judge Amy Hanley ordered Lee to stand trial on the charges after hearing the girl’s testimony.

The girl said that they were watching “The Grinch” on a couch when the first alleged assault occurred.

Another incident happened months later, she said, again while they were watching a film.

The girl said she once spoke to Lee about the sexual contact and he told her, “People have it worse” and “You could have been murdered. People who get murdered, they have it worse.”

The girl said that Lee purchased books about sex and sex toys for her and instructed her not to tell her parents.

She first reported the assaults to a friend of hers in a text message and eventually told her therapist before eventually telling her mother. She said that when she told her therapist that she was still trying to justify Lee’s actions.

“I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, saying that ‘maybe he is doing it all for my health,'” the girl said.

Once her mother found out and the police became involved but before Lee was arrested, she said, Lee and his siblings confronted her to try to coerce her into changing her story. The girl recorded the conversation and turned it over to investigators.

In the recording, played in court, they offered to buy the girl something or give her money if she lied to the police.

The girl can be heard on the recording saying that she didn’t want Lee to go to prison and “I will stop working with them (police) and giving them things, but I won’t lie about something that happened.”

Later in the recording, the girl said maybe they could give her mother $10,000, to which Lee said, “I’m not going to give your mother a bunch of money.”

The girl testified that she suggested that Mark pay her mother because that was the only thing she could think of that would be helpful for her family.

Lee’s siblings, Kent and Teresa Lee, were also charged with one felony count of aggravated intimidation of a witness, in connection with the case, but those charges have been dismissed, according to court records. Kent and Teresa were scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing in September 2024 on the charges, but the victim did not appear at the hearing.

Prosecutors requested a continuance at that time, but Judge Sally Pokorny denied the continuance and dismissed the charges without prejudice, meaning the charges could be refiled. Pokorny instructed the state to issue Teresa and Kent a summons if the charges are refiled.

Mark Lee is next scheduled to appear in court on July 30. He is currently free on a $130,000 surety bond.