‘Go get the belt’: Palliative care doctor directed children to ‘cut, choke and hang themselves’ while he watched on video chat — causing a death, DOJ says

Left: Dr. Stephen Leedy being interviewed (Brandon Rimes/YouTube). Right: Dr. Stephen Leedy (Florida Hospice & Palliative Care Association).

Left: Dr. Stephen Leedy being interviewed (Brandon Rimes/YouTube). Right: Dr. Stephen Leedy (Florida Hospice & Palliative Care Association).

A doctor in Florida is facing multiple charges for sexually exploiting children he met on social media — ordering them to “cut, choke and hang themselves” — while he watched on video chat, the Justice Department says.

Stephen Leedy, 59, of St. Petersburg, is accused of coaching at least one of his minor victims to her death, with the 13-year-old being found “hanging from the shower head with a dog leash around her neck,” according to DOJ prosecutors. An indictment was handed down on Dec. 26 detailing the charges against him, which included three counts of production of child sexual abuse material and two counts of coercing or enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity. If convicted, Leedy faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

“According to the indictment and court documents, Leedy, a palliative care doctor in the Tampa Bay area, utilized the username ‘maximumuncle#9112’ to sexually exploit and victimize approximately ten minors online,” DOJ officials said in a press release Monday. “In online conversations and video chats, Leedy instructed the minors to produce sexually explicit images of themselves and directed them to cut, choke, and hang themselves. In November 2021, Minor Victim 1 was discovered deceased, having hanged herself in front of her phone in a manner consistent with instructions Leedy had previously provided her.”

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