Crime And Law

Franklin man who volunteered as church bus driver sentenced for sexually abusing minors

CINCINNATI — A man who volunteered as a church bus driver will spend the next 30 years in prison for sexually abusing boys under the age of 12, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Church bus driver charged with child sex abuse

Jory Leedy, 51, of Franklin was sentenced in federal court after originally pleading guilty to charges in June 2019. He was first charged with the crimes in 2016.

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Leedy had met the victims through volunteer work at Target Dayton Ministries in Dayton. While volunteering as a bus driver, Leedy met the victims, aged 7 and 8, and the boys’ mother who he drove to the ministry on Sundays. Shortly after meeting the family, he started going to the victims’ home and played with the boys, and ate dinner with the family, a DOJ spokesperson said in a media release Friday.

Federal investigators said Leedy stopped volunteering as a bus driver shortly after and started going to the house on a nightly basis.

“He began buying the minors clothes and games. Eventually, Leedy ingratiated himself into the family, taking the boys to church in Cincinnati and on trips to the zoo, Cincinnati Reds games and Kings Island,” the DOJ spokesperson said.

Additionally, Leedy started taking the boys on out-of-state trips, and continued to pay for things for the family, including helping by a new car, getting the boys in a private school, and helped the family secure another home, which was owned by a friend of Leedy, and he helped pay part of the rent, federal investigators said.

Leedy had given a fake name to the family, but his real name was later uncovered during an altercation with the victims’ father where the police were called. During that altercation and investigation, Leedy’s real name was revealed and that he was a registered sex offender.

During the federal investigation, the victims said the abuse took place over a two year period and happened in different states, including Kentucky, Florida, and New York, the DOJ spokesperson said.

According to court documents, Leedy later admitted that between 1999 and 2001, he also sexually abused a then-minor relative while taking the child on trips for sporting events.

Additional details were not released.

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