Man, 83, Admits Sexual Assaulting Paramedic on His Jet

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July 01--An 83-year-old businessman pleaded guilty this morning to assaulting a paramedic as he was flown on his private jet from Arizona to Rochester, Minn., last year.

Robert M. Lee admitted he grabbed and twisted the breast of a paramedic and, when she demanded he stop, he said, "I can do whatever I want. This is my airplane."

A sentencing date has not been set. Lee will be evaluated at the Mayo Clinic beforehand, his attorney told U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan.

The evaluation will be done to "assure the court that Mr. Lee is not a threat and this was an isolated incident that will never repeat itself," attorney Scott Freeman said outside court. It should show Lee's "good nature and excellent character," he said.

In court this morning, Lee walked with a cane and answered, "Yes, Your Honor" to the judge's questions, but said little else.

Lee, of Reno, Nev., faces a maximum six months in prison and a $5,000 fine. Freeman said he's "hopeful the judge will evaluate Mr. Lee for all the good works he's done in his 83 years of life and make an appropriate sentence."

During the Sept. 21 incident, Lee also told a nurse aboard his $37 million Gulfstream jet that "she should be wearing a V-neck shirt so that he could slide his hand in her shirt more easily," according to the charge filed against him.

The case was prosecuted federally because it occurred aboard an airplane in flight.

Lee's business is Deeside Trading Co. in Sparks, Nev., outside Reno.

Described in one publication as "an avid explorer, writer and conservationist," Lee was the founder of Hunting World, an outfitter specializing in leather goods and bags.