NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — A Nacogdoches man accused of posing a 12-year-old girl and using his phone to coerce a Florida child into sending him explicit pictures and videos was recently arrested.
Charles Grant Leonard, 19, has been booked into the Nacogdoches County Jail on two counts of possession of child pornography in Texas. He's facing the following charges in Nassau County, Florida: promotion of sexual performance by a child, transmission of material harmful to minors by electronic device or equipment and soliciting a child via computer (misrepresent age).
According to a post on Facebook from the Nassau County Sheriff's Office, during an investigation, a Nassau County detective learned the suspect, who was later identified as Leonard, started messaging the child in Nassau County in November 2022 when the victim received a cell phone.
The sheriff's office said the child downloaded a game called “Rec Room” and Leonard messaged the child on that app, telling the juvenile to communicate with him via Snapchat.
Investigators learned Leonard asked the victim for inappropriate images and videos. The sheriff's office said multiple photos were sent to Leonard's Snapchat account and phone number.
In an interview with detectives, the victim said Leonard asked the child to “play a game" to coerce the victim into sending sexually explicit photos. He posed as a 12-year-old girl and did not tell the victim that he was a 19-year-old man.
The detective traveled to Texas to make the arrest after a search warrant was served Monday. Leonard's phone was searched and officials found inappropriate images of the child, according to the sheriff's office.
The detective who investigated this case is a part of the newly formed multi-agency North East Florida INTERCEPT Task Force, which was created to combat human trafficking and child exploitation.
“We are deeply saddened and disgusted over these cases involving young children. But we are also relieved to know we can get another sick individual off the streets, this time someone from Texas who was preying on one of our children in Nassau County. Again this shows the importance of what the North East Florida INTERCEPT Task Force is trying to achieve by helping those who are most vulnerable,” Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper Said.