Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Jacksonville, Florida – Chief United States District Judge Marcia Morales Howard has sentenced Jeremy Wayne Leggett (37, Jacksonville) to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison for using the internet to attempt to entice and meet a 13-year-old child to engage in sexual activity. Leggett was arrested on June 19, 2023, and has remained been in federal custody. Leggett pleaded guilty on January 15, 2025.
According to court records, Leggett is a registered child sex offender, having been previously convicted in Florida in 2020 of traveling to meet a minor to commit an unlawful sexual offense and transmitting harmful materials to a minor.
On June 16, 2023, an undercover FBI agent (UC) in the Jacksonville area, posing as a child, was working online in a social media application (app) to identify individuals seeking to meet children for sexual activity. The UC engaged in online conversation with an app user “dAddi” who posted a notice in a public chat room that read “Lookingfor [under 18 emoji] wannaspoiladaughter.” During this online conversation, user “dAddi,” who was identified as Leggett, was advised that the “child” was 13 years old. Leggett asked if the “child” “[l]ike[d] older men,” and sent the “child” a photo of himself. Leggett denied being a murderer or a kidnapper, telling the “child” that he was “just a pedophile.” He suggested that that they meet so he could perform oral sex on “her” in his vehicle. After more conversation, Leggett sent the “child” explicit photos of himself. On June 17, 18, and 19, 2023, Leggett initiated text messages with the UC and continued attempting to persuade the “child” to meet for sex.
On June 19, 2023, Leggett and the “child” arranged through text messages to meet at a retail shopping center in Jacksonville. That evening, Leggett drove his vehicle to this location to meet the “child” and circled the parking lot. When law enforcement officers attempted to stop Leggett’s vehicle, he quickly reversed his vehicle and fled the scene. A short time later, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and FBI agents located Leggett at a residence in Jacksonville and he was arrested.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. 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 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 and rescue child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.