Leonard Church was once the top elected official in Kennesaw, serving two terms as mayor and representing the city on the Atlanta Regional Commission and other municipal boards.
But now, as a current city councilman, Church must enter the council chambers for meetings through a private entrance. He arrives just prior to the board’s gatherings and leaves immediately afterward without making contact with anyone under age 18 — conditions he must meet to remain free on bond.
That’s because the 67-year-old councilman was indicted this year on charges of aggravated child molestation, child molestation and four counts of sexual exploitation of children.
Prosecutors say police found hundreds of images of child pornography on Church’s computer as they investigated the allegation that he showed child porn to a 9-year-old boy and molested him.
Church, who has pleaded not guilty, rejected a plea bargain that would have sent him to prison for 15 years, and will instead go to trial Dec. 7.
Members of the public have repeatedly expressed outrage that Church still serves on the city council and continues to cast votes on behalf of the city. He has collected about $17,000 in salary for his work on the council since being arrested in June 2014.
“It’s pretty shameful that the guy won’t step down,” Chad Cantrell, 34, said while sitting in the bed of his pickup truck just down the street from city hall. “Maintaining that position is pretty embarrassing. If he really loved the city and wanted to represent it, why would he bring that negative attention?”
Anthony DePaola, of Legacy Park, asked council members this summer why Church was still on the council — nearly a year after being arrested.
“Are you morally OK with sitting up there with a guy who has been charged with something like this?” DePaola asked while Church sat silently at the dais.
Church’s attorney, Jimmy Berry, did not return messages requesting an interview for this story. Berry petitioned the court four days after the January indictment, asking that Church be allowed to continue attending council meetings and agenda work sessions. He has missed only a handful of meetings since having the terms of his bond modified.
Church’s original bond barred him from being in the presence of minors.
“As a council member, the defendant could enter through a non-public entrance and participate in the meetings and then leave through the same non-public entrance,” says the request. “Defendant would be physically separated from the audience by a long podium and would have no contact or interaction with audience members.”
Mayor Mark Mathews, who defeated Church in the 2008 mayoral election, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he has privately asked Church to step down, to no avail. Mathews and other council members say there is nothing they can do to force Church out of office because he hasn’t been found guilty of the allegations.
“We have no penalty provisions in place for us to do to each other,” Mathews said at council meeting earlier this year. “We can’t do anything to each other.”
It is unclear why prosecutors did not charge Church for each image of alleged child pornography investigators found on his home computer. A spokeswoman for Cobb District Attorney Vic Reynolds said it was a “strategy issue” that the office would not discuss. Three of the exploitation charges date to 2006, when Church was mayor, according to the indictment.
If convicted of a felony, Church would be removed from office. Gov. Nathan Deal could appoint a replacement for the period of any appeal of the conviction. A special election would be held to fill the seat, if the conviction stands prior to the end of Church’s term, Dec. 31, 2016.
About the Author
