Man gets 20-year sentence for traveling cross-country to sexually abuse Vancouver teen
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Florida man was sentenced to 20 years in prison on April 15 for producing child pornography and traveling across state lines to sexually assault a minor in Vancouver, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Forty-two-year-old Samuel Aaron Leonard of New Port Richey, Florida was arrested in Vancouver on July 2, 2020, outside the home of a 14-year-old girl whom he spent months chatting with on social media, posing as a 20-year-old man.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle also sentenced Leonard to 20 years of probation following his release.
“To damage a life as significantly as you have is far worse than any aggravated assault,” Settle said. “You have to understand that your victims have a life sentence.”
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Leonard also sent the girl a cell phone, which he had fixed with tracking and surveillance software without the girl’s knowledge, allowing him to superstitiously monitor her texts and emails, the DOJ said. Leonard then used the phone to have sexual conversations with the 14-year-old and convinced her to send sexually explicit photos.
The girl’s legal guardians discovered the phone and contacted police in June of 2020. Authorities seized the phone and an undercover officer took over the communication posing as the victim.
By analyzing the phone records, investigators determined that Leonard had traveled from Florida to the Vancouver area by bus and was within a short distance of the girl’s home. The officer posing as the girl then told Leonard that her guardians had taken her phone and Leonard agreed to replace the phone.
“Police surveilled Leonard as he took a newly purchased phone, hid it in a package, and tossed the package over the fence to the girl’s backyard,” the DOJ said. “Leonard was arrested shortly afterward.”
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A search of Leonard’s hotel room revealed he had brought various items, which could be used to restrain a person, including 10 sets of flex cuffs, two sets of metal handcuffs, duct tape and electrical tape. Authorities also found sex toys and lubricants inside the room. Upon searching Leonard’s phone, authorities also found videos of a sexual assault committed against another teenage girl. In the plea agreement, Leonard admitted that he traveled to Oklahoma in 2018 to sexually assault a 16-year-old.
U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman called the case “a parent’s worst nightmare.”
“A predator lurking online who preys on their child remotely and then travels thousands of miles to further harm a minor child,” Gorman said. “The investigation revealed that the victim in this case was not the first harmed by Mr. Leonard. This sentence is designed to protect the community from further crimes.”
Leonard is also required to register as a sex offender as part of his conviction.
“When someone violates children like you have, there will be grave consequences [and] long prison terms, so we can begin to curb the terrible scourge of sexual exploitation of children from our culture,” Settle told Leonard at the sentencing.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security, the Vancouver Police Department and the Kalama Police Department.
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