St. Augustine Business Owner Pleads Guilty To Attempting To Use A Minor Child For The Production Of A Sexual Abuse Video

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that Jack Dymond Leach (43, St. Augustine) has pleaded guilty to attempting to use a minor child to produce and send him videos and photos depicting the child being sexually abused by a child sex trafficker in the Philippines. Leach faces a minimum penalty of 15 years, up to 30 years, in federal prison and a potential life term of supervised release. On May 29, 2025, Leach was arrested by federal agents and has been custody since that time. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 20, 2026.  

According to court documents, in March 2025, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents were investigating child sexual exploitation activities involving a particular telecommunications application (“app”). An HSI analyst in Jacksonville discovered certain information associated with a specific app account that was communicating with two other app accounts had been used by individuals in the Philippines in 2023 to traffic children for sexual exploitation. This app account was determined to have accessed the internet in St. Augustine. Further investigation revealed that this account belonged to and was used by Leach. 

Between November 19, 2023, and March 20, 2024, Leach’s app account and the other two app accounts used by child traffickers in the Philippines exchanged 1,287 messages and 32 media files. In an app text message that Leach sent to a trafficker on November 21, 2023, Leach stated, “i like 3y, 5y, 8y.” The trafficker responded, “I c[a]n get that age.” On November 22, 2023, Leach texted, “will [the minor child] make dirty pics or vids …,” and “sure, i’ll pay for them.” On December 2, 2023, Leach sent a message offering to pay the trafficker for producing a video depicting a minor child engaging in specific sexually explicit conduct and sending it to Leach. Leach and the trafficker discussed by text message possible methods of payment. On December 5, 2023, Leach sent the trafficker about $160 using an electronic payment system to produce and send the video of the child being sexually abused. 

On May 8, 2025, federal search warrants were executed at Leach’s residence and his business. Law enforcement seized numerous electronic devices belonging to and used by Leach. A forensic examination of these devices revealed that several contained visual depictions of prepubescent children being sexually abused.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, and the Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify, rescue, and seek justice for victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

NOTE: This matter occurred on a previous date but not published at that time due to government shutdown. Press release posted and made available following the return to normal operations.