A Daytona Beach couple was arrested early Wednesday after investigators found child pornography on a computer inside a filthy house with several children inside where police said the wife dismissed the child exploitation as "strange."
James Leonard, 33, and his wife, Alexandrea Coats, 22, were arrested around 1 a.m. after investigators executed a search warrant at their home on Grandview Avenue, in Volusia County.
A preliminary scan of a laptop on Leonard’s coffee table revealed several images depicting children in sexual situations, deputies said. In an interview with an FBI agent, Leonard confessed to taking the photographs.
Coats, meanwhile, told investigators she was aware Leonard regularly looked at pictures and videos of children engaged in sex, including sex with adult men. She said she even caught the man watching videos, but "chose to allow it, dismissing it as simply strange on his part," according to the charging affidavit.
Coast also said Leonard kept hundreds of pornographic images and videos of children as young as 7 years old. One of the images investigators found involved a child who appeared to be a 1-year-old.
Over the last few months, Coats said, Leonard told her that two children were becoming interested in sexual activity, and so he took them in his bedroom and allowed them to watch pornographic videos with him. Coats said he became uncomfortable and put a stop to the incident when one of the children began touching Leonard, a report states.
Coats described herself and Leonard as nudists, and she said she often saw Leonard lying naked in bed with a naked female child, rubbing her stomach. Coats said she thought that was strange, but she dismissed it, investigators said.
The Department of Children and Families placed into protective custody four children who were inside the residence. Their ages are 8 weeks old, a 1-year-old, a 9-year-old and a 10-year-old. The house was cluttered with trash and laundry to the point that it was difficult to walk through it, deputies said. The smell of human waste was strong throughout the home, a report states.
Leonard was charged with 10 counts of possession of sexual performance by a child, three counts of promoting child pornography and one count of child abuse.
Coats was arrested on child neglect and failure to report child abuse charges.
The investigation is ongoing, and additional charges are possible, deputies said.
The case was investigated by the FBI office in Daytona Beach, the Sheriff's Office, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Brevard Volusia Child Exploitation Task Force and the Daytona Beach Police Department.
Leonard and Coasts were both booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail.