Man avoids trial, pleads to child sex abuse counts

On the day he was set to begin trial, a Lawton man pleaded guilty to charged he repeatedly sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl and took photos.

Jacob Reed Lester, 32, pleaded guilty Monday in Comanche County District Judge Grant Sheperd’s courtroom to five felony charges: first-degree rape (victim under 14), first-degree rape of a victim under 14 by instrumentation, forcible sodomy, lewd or indecent acts to a child under 16 and producing/possessing child pornography, records indicate.

Investigators learned of Lester’s abuse of the girl after the girl’s mother reported finding suspicious messages on the girl’s phone and a photo of Lester sexually assaulting the girl, according to the probable cause affidavit.

With his plea, Lester admitted to sexually assaulting the in several ways almost nightly since January 2023 and that the older man also had taken photos of some of the incidents the affidavit states.

Remanded to the Comanche County Detention Center while a pre-sentencing investigation is undertaken, Lester returns to court at 1:15 p.m. May 13 for sentencing.