INDIANAPOLIS- Shane Austin Leaneagh, 37, of Beech Grove, has been sentenced to 17 years and one month in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material. Leaneagh was also ordered to pay $34,000 in restitution. According to court documents, beginning on August 6, 2023, Leaneagh began distributing images and videos depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct using seven different accounts via the social media application, Kik. On January 10, 2024, officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the Beach Grove Police Department executed search warrants for Leaneagh and his Beech Grove home. Investigators located electronic devices, revealing more than 600 images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of numerous children, including infants and children under the age of twelve. In 2022, Leaneagh was convicted of possession of child sexual abuse material in Monroe County, Indiana. In that case, he used his cellphone to take sexually explicit images of a seven-year-old child while she slept, which the child’s mother later discovered. Additionally, Leaneagh sustained a conviction for intimidation in April 2022 in Jackson County, Indiana. That conviction stemmed from messages he sent to a former coworker in which he threatened to commit sexual acts with her and insinuated that he had been stalking her. The FBI Indianapolis and U.S. Secret Service investigated this case, with assistance from IMPD. The sentence was imposed by Chief District Judge James R. Sweeney II. “Leaneagh’s behavior was despicable, targeting our children for his own sick purposes,” said U.S. Attorney Tom Wheeler for the Southern District of Indiana. “These files show children so young they could not have understood what was happening, yet their abuse will be circulated among predators over and over, leading to repeated victimization because of offenders like Leaneagh. We are extremely grateful to our law enforcement partners who work day and night to stop people like him from exploiting our children.” “The harm child sexual abuse material causes innocent victims is heartbreaking, especially when the victims are as young as infants,” said Special Agent in Charge Ike Barnes of the U.S. Secret Service Indianapolis Field Office. “Holding offenders accountable for distributing these vile images and videos, particularly repeat offenders, helps protect victims from further harm and makes our communities safer. The Secret Service remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to protect victims and pursue those who seek to exploit them. We thank the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana for their collaboration in this important case.” U.S. Attorney Wheeler thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn A. Haney, who prosecuted this case. This case was 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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. If you are a victim of child sexual exploitation, please contact your local police department. Resources for victims of child exploitation can be found on our website at https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdin/project-safe-childhood ###
Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdin/pr/beech-grove-sex-offender-sentenced-17-years-federal-prison