On January 30, 2026, at 2300 hours, AS and TK reported to an officer with the Mounds View Police Department that their friend, a 17-year-old female, SM, was being sexually abused by her father. SM had confided in them at an earlier time but told them that she did not want to report the abuse to police until she turned 18 in June because she was worried about what would happen at home if she reported. SM’s father was identified as Justin James McLeod, [DOB redacted]. SM told her friends that McLeod last sexually assaulted her two weeks prior to January 30. The friends were concerned about SM’s safety.
They knew that SM was out of town with McLeod while SM’s mother and younger brother remained at home in Mounds View. Police learned that SM was snap chatting with her friends, and she reported that he had sexually assaulted her in a motel while she was out of town with her father. On February 1, 2026, TK texted the officer. She reported that SM was ready to talk with police about the abuse. The officer spoke to SM who cried multiple times while she reported the details surrounding the abuse. She reported that they moved to Minnesota about three years ago.
She said that she lives with her parents and her younger brother in Mounds View, Ramsey County. She said her parents are separated. She is required to sleep in the same room with her father while her mother and brother share another room. She said that the third bedroom has been converted to a marijuana grow room. She stated, “My dad has been doing sexual stuff to me.” She said that he penetrates her vagina with his penis. He makes her perform oral sex on him. She does not fight back or resist because she feels she will be in trouble if she resists.
Her father made her go on birth control because he does not use condoms. She said that these acts of sexual assault have been going on for the last four years. She said it last happened in Perham, Minnesota, at a Super 8 Hotel. She said that he used to take her to hotels a lot to sexually abuse her, but he was spending too much money, so it now occurs half the time at home and half the time at hotels. She said that her father sexually abuses her three to four times a week. She said that her mother knows that her father is sexually abusing her, but she does not do anything about it or seem to care.
She stated that her father frequently takes her to the Super 8 in Perham for the abuse. Her father goes to Perham to visit his grandmother’s grave. The last time they were there, he sexually penetrated her vagina with his penis. They left the hotel at midnight and never visited the grave. She texted her friends after the sexual assault and told them what had happened. Officers arrested McLeod on February 1, 2026. In a post-Miranda interview, he confirmed that he and his family, including the mother of his children, his son, and SM, moved to Minnesota about two and one-half years ago.
