Tampa Bay Area Doctor Charged With Producing Child Sexual Abuse Materials And Enticing Minors To Engage In Sexual Activity

Tampa, FL -United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the indictment and arrest of Stephen Andrew Leedy (59, St. Petersburg) on three counts of production of child sexual abuse material and two counts of coercing or enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity. If convicted on all counts, Leedy faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.

According to the indictment and court documents, Leedy, a palliative care doctor in the Tampa Bay area, utilized the username "maximumuncle#9112" to sexually exploit and victimize approximately ten minors online. In online conversations and video chats, Leedy instructed the minors to produce sexually explicit images of themselves and directed them to cut, choke, and hang themselves. In November 2021, Minor Victim 1 was discovered deceased, having hanged herself in front of her phone in a manner consistent with instructions Leedy had previously provided her.

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.

This case was investigated by the Pasco Sheriff's Office and the FBI - Tampa Office, with assistance from St. Petersburg Police Department, FBI - Atlanta Office, and the Holly Springs Police Department. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Abigail K. King and Ilyssa M. Spergel.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.