Crime & Safety

South County Business Owner Lands 290-Year Sentence on Child Porn Charges

Leland Beasley found guilty on 12 counts related to child pornography.

A South County business owner received one of the longest prison sentences in Missouri history Tuesday after he was found guilty on 12 child-porn related charges.

Leland Beasley, 43, owned Gamestation Sector 19 on Lemay Ferry Road. Several of his victims were molested and videotaped at that business, according to a Department of Justice news release.

He was found guilty on 10 counts of producing child pornography and 2 counts of possession of child pornography, the release states. The first 10 counts involved 10 victims.

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Beasley was charged with child molestation in 2009, according to a report by KSDK News.

Authorities believed Beasley touched a 12-year-old boy over his clothes, the report stated. His parents said he used to love going to the store, but that changed.

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"And then all of a sudden it just stopped," the boy's father said in the report. "He didn't want to go there anymore and that's when we knew there was a problem."

His mother added, "I had a heart to heart talk with my son and he broke down and he told me it happened."

To protect the boy, KSDK did not publish the parent's identity.

The 290-year sentence is the longest ever given in the state's Eastern District, according to a Department of Justice news release.

In addition to the justice department, the FBI, St. Louis County Police Department and the Regional Computer Crimes and Enforcement Education Group investigated the case.


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