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If found guilty, Lee could face a fine and up 15 days in jail, although Flynn noted he wouldn’t seek any jail time.

“I normally don’t get into too many specifics about a pending matter but in this case I will for two reasons: No. 1 because I don’t want the rumour mill out there to be unfair to Mr. Lee and what actually happened here, and No. 2, it’s just a violation. It’s not going to go before a jury,” Flynn told reporters at his downtown office.

Photo by Bruce Garrioch / Postmedia

Flynn said Lee was at a function at 716 when the teen driver from the Westin was dispatched to pick him up.

Flynn said Lee asked the driver if he could sit in the front seat and the young man agreed he could.

“In the course of the drive back to the Westin Hotel, Mr. Lee allegedly put his hands on (the young man’s) shoulders and allegedly made some lewd comments,” Flynn said. “The young man told him to ‘stop’ and don’t touch him.

“Mr. Lee allegedly didn’t stop and put his hand back on his shoulders again and started rubbing his shoulders. The young man again told him to stop.”

Flynn alleged that when they pulled up to the hotel, “Mr. Lee made a reference to his own private parts and made a vulgar, lewd statement to the 19-year-old again.”

The driver, shaken by the incident, immediately reported the matter to the head of security at the Westin and Buffalo police investigated Thursday.

Flynn said Lee was held in custody Thursday night because he is a Canadian citizen.

“They didn’t want him fleeing the country,” Flynn said. “It’s not the crime of the century and I had no problem releasing him from custody but I wanted to ensure that we had his passport and that he would answer to this charge.”