A New Boston, Texas, man accused of sexually assaulting a 2-year-old girl and emailing pornographic photos of the abuse appeared Wednesday before a Bowie County judge in Texarkana.
Joseph Clinton Leatherman Jr., 28, was indicted by a grand jury in September for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 6 years of age. He pleaded not guilty to the charge last month with the help of Dallas lawyer Gary Unell.
At a hearing Wednesday afternoon before 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart, Unell asked the court to reduce Leatherman's current $500,000 bail to a lower amount. Lockhart instructed Unell to file a written motion and said he would schedule a hearing to address the issue once Unell has filed it.
The investigation into Leatherman's alleged misdeeds began in August, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account.
Police in Dallas received notification Aug. 9 from the email service AOL that five images depicting child pornography had been mailed by a subscriber with the username infantryman903, which was allegedly linked to Leatherman.
Special agents with the Texas Department of Public Safety determined the offensive photos appeared to have been taken in April and allegedly traced their origin to Leatherman. The images show a male with distinctive physical characteristics wearing unusual camouflage underwear sexually assaulting a young child.
DPS investigators acquired a warrant and searched Leatherman's home Aug. 11 on Walters Street in New Boston. During the search, investigators allegedly located men's camouflage underwear identical to that worn by the man in the illicit pictures. Leatherman's cellphone was seized as well. A woman with whom Leatherman had been living allegedly recognized his body, the underwear and the child pictured in the images when questioned by police.
Since his arrest, search warrants have been issued which give authorities permission to collect a sample of Leatherman's DNA and to take high resolution photographs of his hands.
Lockhart scheduled a tentative date in June 2017 for Leatherman's trial. If found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child under 6, Leatherman faces 25 to 99 years or life in a Texas prison.