SANDPOINT - A series of violent attacks on a teenager earlier this month led to the discovery of a Sagle man's illicit relationship with the teen.

Eli Gunnar Zech was arrested last week on three felony counts of attempted strangulation and two misdemeanor battery counts. While being held at the Bonner County jail, Zech was charged with two additional counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor.

Zech, 23, made another initial appearance on Friday on the lewd conduct charges. Bonner County Magistrate Court Judge Lori Meulenberg set Zech's bail at $40,000 and assigned a public defender to the new case.

Meulenberg also entered an order forbidding Zech from having any contact with the alleged victim, 13.

The sexual relationship was uncovered as sheriff's deputies and Sandpoint Police investigated Zech for a sequence of attacks on the teen on July 3, court records show.

Zech, according to investigative reports, first attacked the teen as she slept at a Sandpoint residence after discovering text messages she had exchanged with a 19-year-old male. He's accused of grabbing her by the hair and throwing her into a window, which broke.

Zech and the teen were ordered to leave the residence and the teen told deputies she agreed to get into Zech's car because she had nowhere else to go. Zech is accused of continuing to batter and choke the teen en route to Sagle, where the alleged attacks continued outside Zech's residence and a wooded area nearby.

The teen escaped and ran barefoot to a neighbor's house and alerted authorities.

The teen admitted being engaged in a nine-month sexual relationship, which led to the filing of the lewd conduct charges, court documents indicate.

Zech initially denied choking the teen, but later told a deputy that she was sexually gratified by the act and that she placed his hands around her neck at one point, according to court documents.

Preliminary hearings in both cases are set for today.