SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man was arrested last Tuesday on lewd conduct and child sex abuse charges.

Lee Arlen Teal made an initial appearance in magistrate court via video feed from the Bonner County Jail. Judge Tera Harden set Lee’s bail at $75,000 and appointed a public defender to represent him, court records show. An order barring Lee from contacting the alleged victim in the case was also entered.

The allegations against Teal emerged after a Lake Pend Oreille School District elementary school received a third-party email disclosing the abuse, according to a sheriff detective’s probable cause affidavit. The alleged victim, an 11-year-old girl, told investigators and Idaho Department of Health & Welfare officials that Teal had touched her inappropriately.

During a follow-up forensic examination at the LillyBrooke Family Justice Center, the alleged victim recounted that Teal had touched her breasts and genitals over her clothing in November and December. She also disclosed that Teal touched her bare breast under her clothes on another occasion, the affidavit said.

Teal agreed to be questioned by detectives. He recalled roughhousing with the girl, but not touching her breasts, the affidavit said. He told investigators he may have touched them, but that the contact was merely incidental, the affidavit said.

Teal was accused of touching a 13-year-old’s breasts in a Sandpoint Police investigation dating back to 2014. The teen later denied the allegations, but recanted the denial in 2015, according to court documents. Teal, however, ultimately escaped prosecution in that case, court records show.

Teal is charged with two counts of sexual abuse of a minor and one county of lewd and lascivious conduct. A preliminary hearing in the case is set for Dec. 26.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.