Andrew Edmund Lee pleads guilty to indecently assaulting a minor

A young man has admitted he indecently assaulted a young girl when he was 18, often arranging to meet up at secret locations they dubbed ‘The Dungeon’ and ‘The Palace’.

A young man has admitted he indecently assaulted a young girl when he was 18, often arranging to meet up at secret locations they dubbed ‘The Dungeon’ and ‘The Palace’.

Andrew Edmund Lee, 27, faced Moss Vale court this week where he pleaded guilty to seven charges of indecent assault of a minor and two charges of inciting a minor to commit an act of indecency. Court documents reveal the assaults took place between 2012, when Lee was 18 and the victim was 13, and in 2014.

In his interview with police last year, Lee said he didn’t know how young the victim was at the time, according to court documents.

“I knew she was younger than me. If she was my age … we probably would’ve made a bit of a different approach,” he told officers.

Andrew Edmund Lee pleaded guilty to indecent assault in court.

According to court documents, when the victim started high school, Lee got her email address and contacted her. The two then began emailing every day.

Between June and October 2012, they began meeting in two bushland locations in Mittagong, which they dubbed ‘The Palace’ and ‘The Dungeon’.

Court documents said when they met on five occasions at ‘The Dungeon’, a nature strip in Mittagong, the two hugged and he put his hands up her shirt to grope her breasts.

“At this stage, the victim was aged 13 and had just started developing breasts,” court documents stated.

“The offender was aged 18.”

In April 2013, police facts stated the offender and the victim went on a day trip to Katoomba where they walked into the bushland and Lee kissed the teenager and groped her breasts.

Court documents state that on the bus ride home, Lee sat next to the victim, playing with her hair, when the bus driver became concerned about the interaction and made everyone swap seats.

Lee later took the victim to a private area where they couldn’t be seen to put his hands up her shirt and grope her breasts.

Andrew Edmund Lee appeared in Moss Vale Court.

Between April and July 2013, court documents state the victim went to a house in Mittagong and the two took off their clothes in his bed. They began kissing and Lee touched the victim’s body, although the victim moved away when he tried to touch her vagina.

When he persisted, court documents state the victim put her underpants back on, and then they continued to kiss.

According to court documents, she left the house after he asked her: “Do you want to know what sperm looks like?”

On July 20, 2013, Lee sent the victim a message telling her they were going in different directions.

“I think it’s time I let go of you,” he wrote, the court papers said.

However, in June 2014, he saw the girl again where the two went for a walk and Lee unzipped his pants and pulled out his penis, which the victim touched for a few minutes until they heard someone coming, according to the documents.

The court heard Andrew Edmund Lee told his current partner about his relationship with the victim.

Lee and the victim continued to message each other and he said on October 21, 2017 that he’d wanted to apologise to her for a long time, according to court documents.

In June 2020, the victim went to the police to report the assaults.

Court documents state Lee had reflected on the relationship with the victim and felt it tested boundaries.

“There was a case of me pushing the limit, um, knowing it was wrong, not quite knowing what I was doing either. But like I knew enough to know it was wrong,” he said.

According to court documents, Lee said the sexual touching was mutual and it “wasn’t sexual in his head”.

“I just sort of put my hands in place where I was curious about,” he told police.

He also told police he had only recently learned the age of consent was sixteen.

Lee will return to Moss Vale Local Court for sentencing in July 2021.