Brian Leach at his March 13, 2026 detention hearing.
A Cape May County man accused of using his criminal court connections to coerce a Recovery Court participant into a sexual relationship was ordered held in jail Friday.
Brian Leach, 53, of Cape May Court House, was arrested last week on a charge of second-degree sexual assault.
Leach owns six sober living houses, including one dedicated to women, which is where the alleged victim was staying.
She told police that Leach helped her get out of jail and moved into the house in Rio Grande, but that he then asked her to send him a nude photo.
That escalated to him offering her money for sex, she claimed. She said she felt obligated because of his relationships with Recovery Court and probation, which had oversight of her.
The prosecutor and defense presented very different pictures of Leach during a contentious detention hearing that was postponed several hours Friday, as the two sides disagreed on what could be presented at the proceeding.
Documents totaling 50 pages gave the full view of Leach and his interactions from the view of others in Recovery Court and sober living, along with probation officers and his deep connection with the criminal justice system, Senior Assistant Prosecutor Bryna Batten said.
It showed that he had oversight of the woman, meaning whether she consented to the sex did not matter.
But defense attorney Joseph Rodgers balked at the “pages of hearsay and chitchat (that is) just talk between people and cops on different matters.”
“There are two pages that are relevant to this (alleged victim) and my client as to their relationship, if any,” Rodgers said.
He said the woman spoke to investigators only twice, including one time at a bus station, when she didn’t want to talk to them.
“The second time, she calls them,” Rodgers said, adding that it’s unclear what may have sparked that call and mentioning her judgments of conviction that he included in his submissions.
Rodgers presented his client as someone who overcame his own addictions and worked to help others, with trusted managers overseeing his sober living locations.
The attorney pointed out that the businesses have not been closed down.
But Batten said Leach is “a wolf in sheep’s clothing who preys on the most vulnerable” as he holds a monopoly over sober living houses in Cape May County.
“He definitely picks out who’s vulnerable and who’s not,” she quoted one woman as saying. “He did that to me, and made my life hell.”
Judge Jeffrey Waldman moved to hold Leach pretrial, despite the public safety assessment recommendation that he be released with weekly reporting.
“This is not an allegation of a simple act but of a course of conduct over a significant period of time, even if the court was just to consider this one particular victim,” he said in making his decision.
Waldman, previously the Atlantic County Recovery Court judge, admitted he had some hesitation in detaining someone who serves in the position Leach does.
“The court probably knows better than anyone else the effect this will have on those who reside in Mr. Leach’s various properties in sober living, but that is not one of the things the court needs to consider,” he said. “But I do acknowledge that in reaching this decision.”
Leach sat opened-mouthed for a moment as he heard the judge’s decision. He then put his head in his hands.
He is due back in court May 6.
Brian Leach reacts to the decision to detain him.
