Jacksonville Sex Offender Indicted For Attempting To Meet A 13 Year Old Child To Engage In Sexual Activity

Jacksonville, Florida - United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Jeremy Wayne Leggett (36, Jacksonville) with using the internet to attempt to entice a child to engage in sexual activity. If convicted, Leggett faces a minimum penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison, and a potential life term of supervised release. Leggett is a registered child sex offender, having been previously convicted in Florida in 2020 of traveling to meet a child to commit an unlawful sexual offense and transmission of harmful materials to a child. Leggett has been ordered detained pending the outcome of his case.

According to court documents, on June 16, 2023, an undercover FBI agent (the "UC") in the Jacksonville area, posing as a minor child, was working online in a particular social media application (app) to identify individuals seeking to make contact with and engage in sexual activity with children. The UC engaged in online conversation with an app username "dAddi" who posted a notice in a public chat room that read "Lookingfor[under 18 emoji] wannaspoiladaughter." During this online conversation, user "dAddi," who was subsequently identified as Leggett, was advised that the "child" was 13 years old. Leggett asked if the "child" "[l]ike[d] older men," and sent the "child" a photo of himself. After more conversation, Leggett suggested that they meet in person for sexual activity, and he sent the "child" an explicit photo of himself. During the next three days, Leggett reinitiated text messages with the UC and continued attempting to persuade the "child" to meet for sex and to send him sexually suggestive photos.

On June 19, 2023, Leggett and the "child" made arrangements to meet at a shopping center in Jacksonville. Later that evening, Leggett went to the agreed-upon location and drove around the parking lot there for about 30 minutes. When law enforcement officers attempted to make contact with Leggett, he quickly reversed his vehicle and fled the scene. A short time later, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and FBI agents located Leggett at a residence in Jacksonville and arrested him.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' 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 and rescue child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.