Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Former St. Augustine business owner sentenced to 29 years for child exploitation offenses

Jack Dymond Leach received a sentence of nearly three decades after pleading guilty to federal charges related to paying traffickers
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Jack Dymond Leach, 44, of St. Augustine, was 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, according to a July 22 announcement by United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe. 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.

Leach, the former owner of Dymeng Technology Solutions, was arrested on May 29, 2025, and has been in custody since that time. He pleaded guilty on October 21, 2025.

According to court documents and evidence discussed in open court, agents from Homeland Security Investigations began investigating child sexual exploitation activities involving an online communications application in March 2025. An analyst discovered information linking a specific account—later determined to belong to Leach—to two accounts used by individuals trafficking children for sexual exploitation in the Philippines during 2023.

Between November 2023 and March 2024, Leach’s account exchanged over one thousand messages and numerous media files with the traffickers’ accounts. In text messages cited by authorities from November 21-22, 2023, Leach wrote: “i like 3y, 5y, 8y.” The trafficker responded: “I c[a]n get that age.” Leach later texted: “will [the child] make dirty pics or vids …,” adding “sure, i’ll pay for them.” On December 2 and December 5 of that year he offered payment and sent $160 for production of explicit material involving children.

Federal search warrants were executed at Leach’s residence and business on May 8, 2025. Law enforcement seized electronic devices belonging to him; forensic examination revealed at least nine hundred thirty-three photos depicting young children being sexually abused.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations along with local sheriff’s offices and the Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown prosecuted the case. It is part of Project Safe Childhood—a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice focused on combating child sexual exploitation.

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