Dramatic video footage showed an alleged pedophile doctor being arrested by a fleet of police while driving with his stunned wife and mother-in-law.
Dr Stephen Andrew Leedy was arrested December 19 over claims he got children to sent him sex images and helped one girl kill herself, with bodycam footage of that apprehension shared Tuesday.
Officers had been on the look out for the 59-year-old palliative care specialist after a warrant for his arrest was issued in his home state of Florida.
Authorities had been searching for Leedy after they say he forced children to perform sex acts online and helped a young girl hang herself over two years ago.
On December 19 they caught up with him while he was driving with his wife Lynda Leedy and his mother-in-law.
Four cop cars can be seen swarming on his red SUV, pulling him from the vehicle and quickly putting him in cuffs as he asks: ‘What is going on here?’
Leedy doesn’t appear to be shocked at all as he says: ‘I’m assuming this is a case of mistaken identity, I know nothing of a warrant. I’m gainfully employed, I’m a physician. I’ve had no notice of anything.’
Officers are quick to inform him that he wouldn’t have been notified of any warrant, as he is bundled into the back of one of their squad cars.
The officer recording the arrest can also be seen later in the clip retrieving Leedy’s phone from his vehicle, with Leedy appearing to give up his password.
One officer can also be seen speaking with his wife Lynda, who appears shocked at her husband being detained.
She can be heard saying: ‘Does he have a key to the house? Can I go talk to him?’, to which she is told she cannot.
Lynda continues: ‘What’s happening now? This is my husband’, as the officer informs her she is free to leave and should do so.
After asking why her husband is being taken to jail, officers inform her that it was down to her husband to tell her what his warrant was related to.
As she goes back and forth over where her husband is going, she asks the officer: ‘Can you tell him we are going to go to the lake house’ as the footage ends.
There is no suggestion Lynda was aware of her husband’s alleged crimes and the footage she appears to assume he is being apprehended for a minor matter that will soon see him freed by police.
In a statement, Holly Springs Police Department said: ‘On December 19, 2024, the Holly Springs Police Department received a BOLO for a person wanted for Child Pornography out of Florida and in connection with the death of a juvenile.
‘Officer Brandon Cantrell, Officer Riley Landry, and Lt. Naveed Babar began patrolling the area.
‘Officers located the vehicle and apprehended the offender. The custody of the offender was turned over to the FBI.’
Formal charges were announced against Leedy on Monday, who is said to have gone by the online username maximummuncle and encourage children to produce explicit material for him.
In a review of court documents by DailyMail.com, most of which contains details too horrifying to publish, authorities say Leedy encouraged the young girl to commit extreme sex acts upon herself while also encouraging self mutilation.
Prosecutors say the doctor ‘very clearly engaged in this predatory behavior with approximately ten minor victims across the country.’
Leedy is said to have spoken to his victims by video-calling them, but kept his screen black and never revealed his identity to victims, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
He has a clean medical license with the Florida Department of Health.
Leedy was arrested after the 13 year-old girl he allegedly groomed killed herself after he sent her instructions on how to do so.
The victim, who has not been named, recorded the final distressing act.
A subsequent search of her messages is said to have identified Leedy as her groomer.
Leedy faces dying behind bars if convicted of the three counts of production of child sex abuse material and two counts of coercing or enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity he now faces.
The doctor lives in a $1.1 million home a few blocks back from St Petersburg beach with wife Lynda, who holds a senior executive role with Pinellas County.
She is said to have been ‘shocked’ by news of her husband’s arrest.
Prosecutors wrote: ‘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.’
Lynda has been the chief administrative officer for Pinellas County’s juvenile welfare board for the last 10 years.
Her husband’s arrest was a ‘complete shock’ to her, according to a statement issued by Pinellas County on Tuesday morning.
Pinellas County CEO Beth Houghton said she was ‘stunned and saddened’ for Lynda and that she has the ‘utmost confidence’ that she can carry on her role as before.
Houghton said Lynda did not work with children and was required to complete a stringent background check before her hire, further underlining that she knew nothing about her husband’s alleged crimes.
The statement concluded: ‘During this challenging time, we ask for grace, empathy, and privacy for Ms. Leedy and her family.’
Leedy was seen as an authoritative voice on palliative care, which aims to keep terminally-ill people comfortable during their final weeks or months.
He spoke about the topic at conferences and traveled to Lancaster University in England to share his expertise with other doctors and medical students.
Leedy’s lawyers Bjorn Brunvand and Lucas Fleming said in a statement to DailyMail.com: ‘Our client, Stephen Leedy adamantly denies the charges that have been filed against him in federal court.
‘It is particularly important in moments like this when someone is being accused of very troubling allegations, that we afford him the presumption of innocence.
‘We will be entering a not guilty plea at the earliest opportunity and look forward to vigorously defending Dr. Leedy in court.’