Former St. Augustine Business Owner Sentenced to 29 Years for Attempting to Pay Traffickers in the Philippines to Film and Send Videos of Children Being Sexually Abused

Jacksonville, Florida - Jack Dymond Leach (44, St. Augustine) has been sentenced by United States District Judge Wendy W. Berger to 29 years in federal prison for attempting to pay individuals in the Philippines to molest young children and send him videos of their sexual abuse. Leach was also ordered to serve a lifetime term of supervised release, pay $103,000 in restitution to child victims, and register as a sex offender. On May 29, 2025, Leach, the former owner of Dymeng Technology Solutions, was arrested and has been in custody since that time. He pleaded guilty on October 21, 2025. United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.

According to court documents and evidence discussed in open court, in March 2025, agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) were investigating child sexual exploitation activities involving a particular online communications application ("App"). An HSI analyst in Jacksonville discovered certain information associated with a specific App account that was communicating with two other App accounts that had been used by individuals in the Philippines in 2023 to traffic children for sexual exploitation. This particular App account was determined to have accessed the internet in St. Augustine. Further investigation revealed that this account belonged to Leach.

Between November 2023 and March 2024, Leach's App account and the other two App accounts used by child traffickers in the Philippines exchanged 1,287 messages and numerous media files. In an App text message that Leach sent to a trafficker on November 21, 2023, Leach stated, "i like 3y, 5y, 8y." The trafficker responded, among other things, "I c[a]n get that age." On November 22, 2023, Leach texted, "will [the child] make dirty pics or vids …," and "sure, i'll pay for them."

On December 2, 2023, Leach sent a message offering to pay the trafficker for producing a video depicting a child engaging in specific sexually explicit conduct and sending it to Leach. Leach and the trafficker discussed possible methods of payment via text message. On December 5, 2023, Leach sent the trafficker $160 to produce and send the video of the child being sexually abused. Leach also attempted to have traffickers molest two other children for the purpose of producing and sending him videos of their abuse.

On May 8, 2025, federal search warrants were executed at Leach's residence and his business. HSI agents and other law enforcement personnel seized numerous electronic devices belonging to and used by Leach. A forensic examination of these devices revealed at least 933 photos depicting young children being sexually abused.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, the Clay County Sheriff's Office, and the Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another case 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 the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify, rescue, and seek justice for victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.