Butler County business owner sentenced to prison for sexually exploiting boys

A Butler County man convicted of child exploitation charges has been sentenced to 30 years in prison followed by lifetime supervised release.

James Mark Leroy, 55, of Renfrew, was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $400, restitution of $25,000 and a fine of $125,000, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song said on Tuesday.

Leroy, who owns Jimi Enterprise Incorporated in Butler, was convicted during a trial in February. According to testimony, Leroy transported boys aged 10 and 13 on two occasions to Florida and Michigan with the intent to engage in illegal sexual conduct.

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During the trips, Leroy engaged in criminal sexual acts and supplied the boys with alcohol and prescription pills, officials said.

The government also presented evidence at trial and at sentencing that Leroy had historically sexually offended against two other victims when they were children between the ages of 10 and 13.

Before imposing sentence, United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab said that Leroy “must serve a significant custodial sentence for this most reprehensible pattern of criminal conduct.”

PREVIOUS STORY: Butler County business owner accused of sexually abusing children

The judge also found that a sentence shorter than 360 months would create sentencing disparities among others charged with similar crimes.

Song and Assistant United States Attorney Heidi M. Grogan prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. In court, Song said Leroy's crimes included “the sinister drugging and incapacitation of children, overtly and surreptitiously by crushing up pills and putting them on the food of a 10-year-old child.”

In a news release, Song credited the victims.

“This defendant underestimated the will and courage of these boys to speak out, to speak up and their determination to make sure that he did not offend against other children," Song said.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit

Cox Media Group