Former doctor gets 20 years

A former Augusta gynecologist was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl at his Evans home in 2005.

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Jerry Jackson Lee II, 47, was convicted June 13 of aggravated sexual battery in Columbia County Superior Court. The jury acquitted him of three counts of child molestation.

Lee, who has surrendered his medical license, was arrested in 2005 in his home after police responded to a domestic dispute, prosecutors said.

Augusta Judicial Circuit Chief Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet handed down the maximum sentence, which also requires Lee to register as a sex offender.

Defense attorney Richard E. Allen asked Overstreet to sentence Lee to the minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years, but the judge said the defendant posed a threat to the public and the victim's family.

Assistant District Attorney Jeff Johnston said the maximum sentence was fair based on Lee's actions.

"She's so young and to have to live with that for the rest of her life will be tough," Johnston said of the victim, who is now 11.

During the trial, Lee claimed that the incident was actually an examination to ensure the girl had not been sexually abused after a neighbor of the victim was reportedly assaulted.

Johnston rejected the claim during the trial, contending that Lee "was hiding behind his former profession to justify his actions."

The victim's mother testified during Tuesday's sentencing hearing that her daughter suffers nightmares as a result of the incident and is afraid to be left alone.

"In eight to 10 years, (the victim) will start college, and she doesn't need to fear (Lee) will be out there and can harm her again," the mother testified. After the hearing, she said she was satisfied and happy with the sentence.

Lee has been held without bond in the Columbia County Detention Center since his 2005 arrest on a probation violation from a Hazlehurst, Ga. fraud conviction.

That charge involved a 2004 allegation in which Lee was accused of acquiring drugs by using a registration number that was revoked when he surrendered his medical license.

In 2003, Lee was acquitted of aggravated assault and aggravated sexual battery charges involving his wife. He was found guilty of misdemeanor battery by Overstreet and was given 12 months' probation and a $1,000 fine.

Lee's wife initially told authorities he beat her with his fists and a paddle and sexually assaulted her. She later recanted, and Lee testified she caused her own injuries.

Lee also was indicted in September 2002 in Augusta on unlawful possession of a firearm involving a fully automatic rifle that police found inside his home.

Lee was acquitted of the charge, which could have been punishable by five years in prison.

Johnston said Lee still faces charges of aggravated assault and cruelty to children in the first degree involving an incident with his oldest son. No trial date has been set.