Crime & Public Safety

Henry County man gets maximum sentence in ‘horrific’ child porn case

Jarrett Leopard, 39, of McDonough, was convicted of 20 counts of sexual exploitation of children, officials said.
Jarrett Leopard, 39, of McDonough, was convicted of 20 counts of sexual exploitation of children, officials said.
Updated Aug 9, 2022

A Henry County man who was convicted of downloading child pornographic images a judge called “horrific” on Monday received a 20-year sentence, the maximum possible in his case.

Jarrett Leopard, 39, of McDonough, was convicted last month of 20 counts of sexual exploitation of children, Henry County Assistant District Attorney Megan Matteucci said in a news release. In addition to his 20-year sentence, Leopard will be required to register as a sex offender for life and pay a $5,000 fine.

Leopard is guilty of possessing hundreds of photos of toddlers and elementary school-aged children being sexually assaulted. According to Matteucci, the sentencing judge said the reality is children were raped and otherwise sexually assaulted because there is a market for the types of images Leopard possessed.

The state’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force began investigating Leopard after they were alerted of several child porn images he uploaded to a public photo-sharing website from his home, Matteucci said.

After being contacted by the ICAC task force, Henry police were able to take out a search warrant against Leopard and found more than 900 child porn images on his cellphone, according to Matteucci.

About the Author

Henri Hollis is a reporter and restaurant critic for the Food & Dining team. Formerly a freelance writer and photographer with a focus on food and restaurants, he joined the AJC full-time in January 2021, first covering breaking news. He is a lifelong Atlantan and a graduate of Georgia Tech.

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