An Anchorage man faces 10 counts of first- and second-degree sexual assault, as well as attempted sexual assault, related to the rapes of four women and the attempted rape of a fifth over the course of about a month.
According to a complaint filed Thursday, 35-year-old Clifford K.I. Lee threatened to kill or cause physical harm to each of the women he is accused of raping, including use of a "stun gun" in several of the assaults in order to gain "compliance" from his victims.
Court records allege Lee's first victim was assaulted June 24. The victim reported the incident to Anchorage police two days later. She told officers then that a male between the ages of 30 and 35 with short black hair sexually assaulted her in a black SUV.
"The suspect threatened to kill the victim if she did not comply with his demands," Detective M. Foy VonDolteren, who is assigned to the Anchorage Police Department's Special Victims Unit, wrote in an affidavit.
Nearly three weeks later, Anchorage police were notified of another rape victim, who described a man nearly identical to the suspect in the first assault. The complaint states she was raped July 12 when the man offered to give her a ride in his SUV. The complaint says the man drove the victim to the home of a relative of his and threatened to physically harm her if she did not comply with his demands.
On July 22, an unidentified man with a similar description to that provided by the first two victims attempted to rape a third woman, but she escaped, the complaint states. The woman told APD that the man was driving a black Chevrolet Suburban or Tahoe SUV. She claimed he threatened her with a stun gun, but she was able to flee from the vehicle.
The following day, he raped another woman, holding a stun gun to her body and forcing her to comply with his sexual demands, the complaint states.
The last known assault occurred July 29, when he raped another woman and again used a stun gun to threaten her, according to the complaint. She reported the incident the following day and once again the suspect was described as a middle-aged man with short black hair who drove a black SUV.
The victim who escaped identified Lee in a photographic lineup on July 31. The same day, patrol officers pulled him over in the Spenard area. Lee was taken into custody and his 2001 black Chevy Tahoe was impounded.
According to the complaint, Lee waived his Miranda rights and subsequently admitted to all of the alleged crimes and to the purchase of a stun gun.
Anchorage Assistant District Attorney Clint Campion was unclear if any of the victims knew Lee prior to the sexual assaults.
"This case is still under investigation," Campion said in a phone interview Monday afternoon.
A spokesperson for APD declined to comment further on the case Monday.
Lee was arraigned Saturday and can't be released from jail until he pays a $750,000 performance bond and a $500,000 appearance bond, and until a third-party custodian is approved.
Campion said the maximum penalty Lee could see is 99 years for each charge. He is expected back in court Tuesday.