LAWRENCE COUNTY, Ark. — A convicted child rapist received a 35-year prison sentence this week in Lawrence County after a negotiated plea.
Brandon Allen Leonard, 39, entered a negotiated guilty plea on Sept. 30 to one count of rape of a victim under 14, two counts of engaging a child in sexually explicit conduct, and one count of producing/directing a sexual performance with a child, online court records showed. 18 other charges were nolle prossed as part of the deal.
Leonard was sentenced to 420 months, or 35 years, for the rape charge. He was sentenced to 240 months, or 20 years, on each of the engaging a child charges, but those will run at the same time (concurrently) as the rape sentence. An additional 20-year suspended sentence was imposed for the final charge.
As part of his agreement, Leonard agreed to testify against the co-defendant in the case, Courtney Green.
Prosecutor James Scurlock II represented the state. Chris Jester represented the defendant. Circuit Judge Rob Ratton presided over the case.
Case background
The probable cause affidavit contains disturbing details that are difficult to read.
On Monday, October 7, 2024, Sheriff Tony Waldrupe received an anonymous letter containing an SD digital memory card. The anonymous author wrote that they were going through items during a time when they were a drug addict, found the card, were disgusted, and felt it should be investigated. The contents were turned over to Sgt. Jamie White for the investigation.
The card contained images and videos of two adult females and one adult male engaging in various sex acts with one another. As the investigator continued to look through the material, he discovered videos and photos of a child around the age of seven being forced to perform sex acts with an adult male.
Other videos show the child in a bathroom with the adult male and one of the adult females. The adult female reportedly tells the child about performing sexual acts and asks the child to expose their private area. The adult woman then performs sex acts on the adult male while talking to the child about it.
Sgt. White was able to identify the adult male as Brandon Leonard due to specific tattoos in the video that were visible. Through the same process, he identified the adult female in the bathroom video as Courtney Green.
Metadata from the files showed the images were created in 2015. By October 2024, the child was living in Florida with a relative. A forensic interview was conducted. The victim confirmed what the disturbing video showed, and more. The victim reported Green had touched their private area, too.
Investigators were told Leonard had also sexually abused another child. Authorities were also informed that Leonard had put a gun to the child victim’s head and said that if they told anyone about the abuse, he would kill their whole family.
The child said they had disclosed the abuse to their mother, but were told they were “lying” and the events were never reported to authorities.
The affidavit says that during the timeframe of these events, Leonard lived with Casey Matthews, who is seen in videos and photos from the SD card, at a Walnut Ridge address.
Co-defendant’s case
On February 5, 2025, deputies interviewed Green. They reported she stated she lived with Leonard and Matthews during that time, but she was “high” most of the time during that period of her life, and was with him for drugs. She said she remembered Leonard making videos and remembered the child being at the residence. She claimed she didn’t remember the video of her and Leonard with the child in the bathroom, and said she did not remember sexually touching the child.
Green is facing charges of rape, sexual indecency with a child, and sexually grooming a child. Her bail was set at $100,000 cash or surety, according to court records, which show she bailed out on July 21 through Mickey’s Bail Bonds.
All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Various details were omitted to protect the victim.
The Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline may be reached by calling 1-800-482-5964.
The National Sexual Assault Hotline is confidential and available 24/7. The number is 800.656.4673.
You can also chat online with crisis support at online.rainn.org.
More resources and information about RAINN can be viewed here.
The Family Crisis Center, Inc. is a local resource available to help if you’re in need.
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