DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A Daytona Beach couple was arrested and their children taken from them after child pornography was discovered in their home, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday.
James Leonard, 33, is at the center of a major investigation by the Sheriff's Office, the FBI and a local task force designed to protect children. He and his wife, Alexandrea Coats, 22, were arrested.
Early Wednesday morning, agents with a warrant searched his home in an effort to determine if he was making his own child pornography and sharing it on line.
Neighbors told Channel 9's Blaine Tolison that they were surprised to see investigators next door.
"I never heard nothing about it and nobody ever said anything to me, but he didn't associate with anybody," neighbor Harry Patrick said.
Leonard's neighbor and landlord said Leonard was a computer technician.
Investigators said they found child pornography on his computer.
They said they found photographs and videos showing children in sexual situations.
According to the Sheriff's Office, Leonard told an FBI agent that he took the photos.
Investigators said they found four children, ages 8 weeks, 1, 9 and 10 years old in the house.
According to investigators, the house was filled with trash and laundry and was difficult to walk through.
In a news release, investigators said, "The smell of human waste was strong throughout (the house)."
According to investigators, Coats told them she was aware that Leonard looked at child pornography but "chose to allow it, dismissing it as simply strange on his part," according to the charging affidavit in her arrest.
Leonard was charged with 10 counts of possession of a sexual performance by a child, three counts of promoting child pornography and one count of child abuse.
Coats was charged with child neglect and failure to report child abuse.
The children were placed into the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families.
WFTV
