Brian Leach (Cape May County Correctional Facility)
A Cape May County man who runs six sober living residences is accused of using his relationship with Recovery Court to sexually assault one of the occupants.
Brian Leach, 53, of Cape May Court House, is jailed on a charge of second-degree sexual assault.
The woman told investigators that she first met Leach when she was at a halfway house, and then moved into one of his sober living houses, according to the affidavit of probable cause obtained by the Fideri News Network.
When she was arrested two days later, she said Leach helped her make arrangements to move into a different sober living house.
But, according to the allegations, there was a price.
Once moved in, Leach texted her to send him nude photos, the affidavit states. He also offered her $200 for oral sex and $500 to $600 for sexual intercourse, the woman told investigators.
"During this time, Leach owned six sober living houses within Cape May County, and routinely held his connections and relationships within the Recovery Court program over recovery participants' heads, as evidenced by multiple statements taken by participants and text messages between Leach and Recovery Court probation officers," the affidavit reads.
The woman said she believed if she did not have sex with him, it would have a negative impact on her Recovery Court sentence.
"I had no job, no family members that was helping pay the rent. Nothing," she said.
The woman told police of a two-week period in which Leach picked her up "three or four times" and drove her to his home in the 100 block of East Woodland Avenue, where the two would have sex.
Brian Leach appears via video from the Cape May County jail. Leach also owns Leach's Construction. He previously has talked about his own battle with addiction that he claimed started with drinking and smoking marijuana when he was 7. By 8, he was shooting up, a Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey reported in 2019.
Leach was arrested for dealing on the streets of North Philadelphia at 11, before adult incarcerations, he said during a Knock Out Opioid Abuse panel.
He moved to Cape May County at 23, and started his construction company, and said a motorcycle injury led to a relapse.
He did not say how long he had been clean at the time of the 2019 panel appearance.
Leach is in the Cape May County Correctional Facility pending a detention hearing set for Monday.
He told a judge during his first appearance that he has private counsel, who was not in the hearing Thursday.
