A man accused of raping at least four women and trying to sexually assault another is now charged with felony counts of sexual assault.
Over the course of five weeks, 35-year-old Clifford Lee targeted random women who were out walking and offered them rides in his black SUV, police say.
Once inside his SUV, Lee would take these women to more secluded areas and proceed to sexually assault them, according to police. Investigators in the Anchorage Police Department’s Special Victims Unit say Lee threatened to kill his assault victims if they didn’t comply. In some instances, they say he used a stun gun to aid in his assaults.
Court records show that one of Lee’s alleged victims reported being raped on June 24 by an “Asian male adult, 30-35 years old with short black hair.” The victim, only identified as “W.B.” told police that she had been sexually assaulted in a black SUV.
Over the course of the next five weeks, police say a total of five women came forward with similar descriptions of the attacker and of the sexual assaults. Police say they didn’t make the connection between these cases until after the fifth woman was attacked on July 29.
“There are similarities in some of the cases but they are rarely exact,” said APD’s Anthony Henry. “It usually takes over time that that pattern is actually identified. And in this case, there are a lot of descriptions that are vague.”
Police say their biggest lead in the case came from a woman allegedly attacked on July 22. Identified only as “B.P.”, she managed to escape from Lee’s vehicle before the assault occurred, according to charging documents. “B.P.” then identified Clifford Lee in a photographic lineup.
Police arrested Lee in a Black 2001 Chevy Tahoe on July 31. He is now charged with 10 felony sexual assaults.
Police say it is highly likely Lee sexually assaulted more women.
“We believe that there are other victims out there,” Henry said. “We believe that this suspect had committed this crime over the period of months and as a result of that there are victims that probably did not report to the police department yet. It is imperative that, we would like those victims to come forward. “