Kennedy
Greenwood police have arrested a man who said he carefully selected and molested children at an autism therapy center.
Leomeir V. Kennedy, 30, was arrested on three counts of child molestation and one count of possession of child pornography by police on Wednesday, according to a Greenwood Police Department news release. Formal charges are under review with the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Police say Kennedy was an employee of Hopebridge Autism Therapy Center, a facility that specializes in treating children with autism, in Greenwood. He reportedly confessed to molesting three children under his care — including two patients at a therapy center for children with autism — since 2017.
In a statement to the Daily Journal, a Hopebridge Autism Therapy Center spokesperson said Kennedy was a former employee of the facility, and that they were working with GPD on an active investigation. The investigation is not focused on any of Hopebridge’s other employees.
The spokesperson was unable to provide additional details to those not directly involved with the investigation because of employee and patient confidentiality, they said.
“The safety and well-being of our patients, visitors, and staff has always been our main priority. We will continue to cooperate fully with the police,” the spokesperson said.
On April 10, Greenwood police received a report from a person who said Kennedy had allegedly admitted to molesting their child. The person also provided a cell phone and laptop of Kennedy’s, which he had given to them. They also said they were concerned there was child pornography on the devices, according to an arrest affidavit.
The next day, Kennedy came to the Greenwood Police Department to confess to molesting children. Kennedy told detectives he was sexually abused as a child and that he was confessing to rid himself of the “snakes and shadows” inside of him.
Kennedy first admitted to molesting a child while babysitting them in October 2017. He said it happened once while changing the child’s diaper, the affidavit says.
He then moved out of state until about one year ago. Eventually, he began to work at Hopebridge, where he was employed for eight to nine months.
Kennedy told detectives he wanted to work at Hopebridge because he considered it a “victim pool.” He also said he thought he “could really help children with autism grow,” the affidavit says.
In order to avoid suspicion, Kennedy allegedly admitted to only preying on children who were not patients assigned to him. He told police he would molest children that he would take care of while their caregivers were on their lunch break.
Police say two children were molested by Kennedy while they were at the facility. Kennedy reportedly admitted to molesting one child during a diaper change and another child while tickling them.
Kennedy eventually told his spiritual advisor about his actions, and they told him to tell the first child’s family. He confessed to the family and gave them his phone and laptop to take to the police station, he told police.
Police searched Kennedy’s electronics and found a search on DuckDuckGo for an explicit search term for child pornography. They also found two sexual images of very young children he received from someone on the Whispr app. He also admitted to having a past Tumblr account with child pornography as well, according to the affidavit.
When asked by detectives about why he came to the police station to confess, Kennedy said his goal was to allow the family and children affected to have the ability to heal. He was also afraid he would continue “the cycle of children being sexually abused,” the affidavit says.
Kennedy was taken to the Johnson County jail on Wednesday, where he is held without bond. No address was listed for Kennedy on jail records, however, he was staying in a hotel, according to the affidavit.
He was ultimately held without bond as he is considered a flight risk. Kennedy had reportedly sent text messages saying he was heading out of state. Additionally, Kennedy has a lack of contacts in Indiana, and has lived in multiple other states, court documents say.
Non-emergency help dealing with sexual assault resources is available at Franklin-based ASSIST Indiana at 317-739-4456. For a complete list of resources from the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking, visit icesaht.org/get-help/. For emergency help dealing with sexual assault call or text 911 to report the crime.
