A well-known palliative care physician in Florida apparently led a sinister double life of child sexual abuse. Stephen Andrew Leedy, 59, allegedly met children online and coerced them to perform sexually explicit acts while he watched through video chat. One minor reportedly ended up dead after following Leedy’s instructions.
The Department of Justice announced Leedy’s indictment in a news release. He is charged with “three counts of production of child sexual abuse material and two counts of coercing or enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity.” If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
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Leedy allegedly made graphic requests of his victims.
According to a pretrial motion for detention reviewed by Law & Crime, prosecutors allege Leedy coerced several young girls through video chat and messages to perform sexual and harmful acts to themselves. This included asking one victim to “use a blade to cut her breasts” and another to engage in “daily hangings.”
“Can ur life be full with cutting your boobs and tummy for daddy, not eating and puking for daddy,” Leedy allegedly messaged a 13-year-old girl.
He reportedly wanted the teen to hang herself.
Leedy allegedly gave his victim explicit instructions. In one instance he said, “Go get the belt so we can start choking u,” prosecutors said, per Law & Crime. Then added, “Have u ever put the end of the belt over the top of your door, and then close the door?”
According to the Department of Justice, “In November 2022, Minor Victim 1 was discovered deceased, having hanged herself in front of her phone in a manner consistent with instructions Leedy had previously provided her.”
Police arrested Leedy in December 2024.
According to body cam footage obtained by WFLA, Leedy appeared confused when Holly Springs police officers arrested him in Georgia on December 19, 2024, following a traffic stop.
He asked the police, “I’m sorry. What’s going on?” The officer then instructed Leedy to put his hands behind his back. He then said it was a mistaken identity and he was a “physician.”
Leedy’s arrest came as a shock to some who knew him.
Deborah Kuhlman, a social worker who worked for Leedy at Gulfside Healthcare Services in Pasco County, told WFLA she never suspected Leedy of any wrongdoing. “Not one single thing, always respectful to all of us. Fair boss,” she said.
“I texted one of my friends, and I said, ‘I feel like I’m questioning everything I thought I knew to be true,’ and especially with a doctor, somebody that you trust that you would think had the high moral ethic compass.”
The news reportedly shocked his wife, Lynda Leedy. She has served as the chief administrative officer of the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County for 10 years.
JWB Chief Executive Officer Beth Houghton shared a statement with WFLA regarding Stephen Leedy’s arrest, noting, “While this news leaves us stunned and saddened for Ms. Leedy, her family, and any potential victims in this case, I have the utmost confidence in her ability to continue to carry out JWB’s mission of strengthening the lives of our county’s children and families.”
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Prosecutors think Leedy is a monster.
Per Law & Crime, prosecutors said Leedy is not what he seemed.
“He hid behind the cloak of anonymity by either lying about his identity or using a black screen while engaging in video calls with the minor victims,” prosecutors said. “Everything that Leedy instructed these minor victims to do was either physically or mentally detrimental to the minor victims. He had absolutely no [regard] for their safety and took advantage of children more than half his age to gratify himself.”
