Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Lawyer and wife arrested on sexual assault charges

(Original Post 4-23-08)

Mark Lesher, 62 and his wife Rhonda, 49, were charged with second degree sexual assault by Texas officials after a woman allegedly was raped by both Leshers.

The charges stemmed from a July 26, 2007, alleged encounter with a 36-year-old woman at the Lesher residence in Red River County.The woman told officials she was raped by both Lesher and his wife.Both Lesher and his wife were released on $100,000 bonds shortly after the arrests.Lesher, who is well known in northeast Texas as a defense attorney, operates offices both in Clarksville and Texarkana.A Red River County grand jury met Friday to hear evidence of the alleged offense and issued the sealed indictments.

"I don’t want to go into the facts because the investigation is ongoing,” said Red River County District Attorney Val Varley in a telephone interview Monday. “The grand jury listened to the testimony of the alleged victim and decided to indict them.”

Mark Lesher is a defense attorney known throughout NE Texas. Both Leshers were released on $100,000 bonds. The investigation is still ongoing.

(Update 4-30-08) A third man has also been charged with 2nd degree sexual assault for the rape of the same woman. Robert mcCarver was arrested in Oklahoma for the crimes and in the same indictment listed above. He's awaiting extradition to Texas.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is much more to this allegation than meets the eye. The halls of power within the county run deep with corruption. Officials have been assassinated without the crime ever being solved,tax money is allegedly being embezzled, and drug money seems to touch the pockets of everyone. Also it must be said that only last month this lawyer filed a $1mil civil rights lawsuit in federal court against the county which has potentially devastating consequences for county officials. The alleged victim's husbands has been accused of being deep into drug trafficking and deeply intertwined with the county hierarchy. Also this lawyer has been a part of a group of county citizens who have been viciously fighting the power structure for some time now and he was seen by many as the only possible candidate that could replace the sitting DA. Of course this does not prove innocence only the courts can do this. I only caution everyone to take a step back and really analyze this situation.

Anonymous said...

Corruption rages...on both sides of this issue. And now, Mark Lesher's common-law ex-wife, who could have testified against him, is found dead in her bathtub. No one knows at this point if foul play was involoved. The plot thickens.