SANDPOINT — A Sagle man facing seven criminal charges related to a series of alleged attacks on a 13-year-old girl with whom he had an illegal sexual relationship is entering into a pretrial settlement agreement to resolve his cases.

Eli Gunnar Zech was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor, three counts of attempted strangulation and two counts of misdemeanor battery. The sexual relationship with the teen was uncovered in July, when Sandpoint Police and Bonner County sheriff’s deputies investigated Zech for a sequence of physical attacks on the girl.

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