Public Office Offers No Shield for Crimes: Judge Orders Former Kennesaw Mayor to Pay $10 Million to Survivor of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Cobb County, GA – A Cobb County judge has ordered a former mayor of Kennesaw to pay $10 million in damages to the man he sexually abused as a child, delivering a rare measure of civil accountability more than a decade after the abuse occurred.

Following a non-jury damages hearing Tuesday, Cobb County State Court Judge Maria Golick entered judgment against Leonard Church, awarding $9.5 million in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages to the victim, identified in court records under the pseudonym B.H.

Church, now 77, has been incarcerated since December 2015 after pleading guilty to child molestation and sexual exploitation charges stemming from the same abuse described in the civil lawsuit. He is currently being held at Long State Prison, where state records list his maximum possible release date as Dec. 3, 2033.

The civil complaint, filed in March 2021, alleged that Church sexually abused B.H. during a May 2014 visit to his home in Kennesaw, when the child was 9 years old. The lawsuit further stated that Church viewed pornographic material with the child during the visit.

Law enforcement began investigating the allegations the following month, leading to Church’s arrest. Just days before his criminal jury trial was scheduled to begin in December 2015, Church pleaded guilty to two counts of child molestation and four counts of sexual exploitation of children. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors reduced one aggravated child molestation charge to simple child molestation.

He was sentenced to 40 years, with 18 years to be served in prison and the remainder on probation as a registered sex offender. Court records show Church signed a written confession admitting to the abuse and stating the child was his only victim.

Church previously served as Kennesaw’s mayor beginning in 1999 and later as a city council member. His criminal conviction brought his political career to an end. He also worked in the dental field and as a real estate agent.

The civil lawsuit was originally filed by the child’s parents, identified as John and Jane Doe, who alleged their son suffered lasting emotional and physical harm as a result of Church’s actions. In June 2021, the court entered a default judgment against Church after he failed to respond to the lawsuit. After reaching adulthood, B.H. was formally substituted as the plaintiff earlier this year.

At the damages hearing, B.H. testified on his own behalf and presented additional witness testimony and evidence. In her written order, Judge Golick found that Church’s actions justified both compensatory and punitive damages.

“After hearing testimony and weighing the evidence, this court finds that defendant’s intentional conduct caused plaintiff compensatory damages, and that defendant’s conduct evinces the specific intent to cause harm necessary to support an award for punitive damages,” Golick wrote.

The ruling marks one of the largest civil judgments in Cobb County tied to child sexual abuse — and underscores that public office offers no shield from accountability.