Ex-LDS official pleads not guilty

An excommunicated general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has pleaded not guilty to a charge of failing to register as a sex offender.

George Patrick Lee, 64, was arraigned in St George's 5th District Court on Thursday on the class A misdemeanor charge. According to court minutes, the judge set the case for trial and Lee indicated he would hire his own attorney.

Lee was arrested by Washington County Sheriff's deputies earlier this week after they received a tip. Deputies claim he had not updated his information on the registry since 2001. He had been convicted of attempted sex abuse of a child in 1994 and sentenced to 18 months probation.

In 1989, Lee was a member of the LDS Church's First Quorum of the Seventy when he was excommunicated for "apostasy and other conduct unbecoming a member of the church."