A Kennesaw city councilman and former mayor has been released from the Cobb County jail after his arrest Friday on child molestation charges involving a 9-year-old boy.
Leonard Leroy Church, 66, was charged with two counts of child molestation, Cobb County police spokesman Michael Bowman said Friday. According to an arrest warrant, the charges deal with alleged offenses involving the 9-year-old between May 8 and May 10 of this year.
Church was arrested at about 2:30 a.m. Friday and booked into the Cobb County jail. He was released from the jail at 10:26 a.m. Saturday on a $10,000 bond, according to the Cobb County Sheriff’s website.
Bowman said a boy told his parents that he had been shown pornographic material and molested at Church’s home in Kennesaw. The pornographic material was on a computer, according to the warrant.
“We were extremely saddened to hear of the charges and ultimate arrest of council member Church,” current Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews said Friday afternoon in an email. “This is a very sensitive, active and ongoing investigation being conducted by Cobb County PD and their Crimes against Children Division.”
According to the city's website, Church opened Church Dental Prosthetics in 1987.
Church was first elected mayor in 1999 and served two terms as mayor.
He was elected to the city council last year, and took office in January.
Church and his wife share six children and nine grandchildren, according to the city’s website.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family members of (Church) as well as the victim,” Mathews said.
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