Man Suspected of Sexually Assaulting Autistic Children Is Found Dead in Jail
A Washington man accused of child molestation and possession of child pornography has died in jail while awaiting trial.
Thirty-one-year-old Leomeir V. Kennedy, who identified as transgender, was being held at the Johnson County jail in Indiana after being arrested and charged in April.
Kennedy, who is from Vancouver, Washington, was found unconscious in his cell Friday at about 9:30 a.m., whereupon officers attempted to resuscitate him, to no avail, WRTV-TV reported. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Johnson County Coroner Mike Pruitt determined that Kennedy had gone into cardiac arrest, according to WRTV.
While authorities said no foul play is suspected, the investigation into his death is ongoing, and an autopsy and toxicology test are set to be performed, according to WTHR-TV.
In April, Kennedy turned himself in to the Greenwood (Indiana) Police Department, where he confessed to molesting three young girls, news outlets reported, citing court documents.
He said he fondled two of them at the facility he was working at — the Hopebridge Autism Therapy Center in Greenwood, Indiana — and said he fondled a 1-year-old in 2017 while he was babysitting at an apartment in Greenwood, according to an earlier report from WRTV.
A photo of the 1-year-old nude in a bathtub reportedly was discovered on Kennedy’s phone, which he surrendered to police, along with his laptop.
His devices allegedly revealed online conversations with other pedophiles and two other images of child pornography that had been sent to him.
Before his arrest, Kennedy worked as a caretaker for young children at Hopebridge for eight months.
He said he chose the job because “it was a ‘victim pool'” and he thought he “could really help children with autism grow,” WRTV reported, citing arrest records.
Ngo report: A therapist/#trans activist has been charged over sexually assaulting autistic children in Indiana. Leomeir Kennedy, formerly Allison, was on cross-sex hormones & told investigators it was “like Christmas” when molesting the nonverbal victim. https://t.co/hNtZXRInek
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) April 16, 2023
The two victims he allegedly fondled at Hopebridge included one child who was described as “non-verbal” and another who was “semi-verbal,” according to WTHR.
Kennedy allegedly avoided getting caught by not abusing the children under his care. He did this by volunteering to cover for other staff members and caring for the children assigned to them, WTHR reported.
When a staff member walked in on him during an alleged assault, Kennedy reportedly told them that the victim had pulled his hand toward her genitals, suggesting it might have been because she was sexually abused in the past.
The staff member told him to report the child’s behavior to a board-certified behavioral analyst, which Kennedy said he did, WTHR reported.
A spiritual adviser ultimately convinced Kennedy to turn himself in, according to the news outlet.
Kennedy said he sought the adviser’s help to rid himself of the “shadows” and “snakes” inside of him.
The family of one of Kennedy’s alleged victims filed a civil suit against the autism center in July, accusing them of negligence by failing to realize Kennedy’s “dangerous propensities” before assigning him to care for children and allowing him to do so without supervision.
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