Jared Leisek, who helped start the lauded missing person search group Adventures with Purpose, was charged last week with two counts of rape of a child, records show.
Leisek is accused of abusing a female relative, who was between 9 and 10 years old, according to Utah court documents obtained by Law&Crime. The incidents allegedly occurred in 1992. Leisek was seven years older than the victim at the time, authorities said.
“Just before November 1, 1992, the victim lived in Ephraim, which is located in Sanpete County,” wrote Deputy County Attorney Arek E. Butler.
In one incident, Leisek allegedly raped the child in her bedroom. He abused her again when they were at their grandparents’ home in the city of Manti, Utah, that same year, documents stated.
Leisek has no attorney of record. Adventures with Purpose referred The Law&Crime Network’s Sidebar podcast to their legal team when asked about the allegations against Leisek. They did not immediately respond to a Law&Crime follow up request for comment on Tuesday. The Sanpete County Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a Law&Crime request for more information. The U.S. Sun first reported the allegations.
Adventures with Purpose is a volunteer dive team that works to help solve missing person cases. Deputies in Pope County, Arkansas, credited the group with finding Samantha Jean Hoppers’ blue Ford Tempo submerged in about eight feet of water. The 20-year-old and her daughter Courtney Holt, 1, disappeared in 1998.
They also found missing man James “Jimmy” Amabile, 38, who was submerged at a Pennsylvania marine in his SUV since 2003.
More recently, the group discovered missing California teen Kiely Mai Rodni, 16, in her SUV under 14 feet of water in a reservoir.
“She’s in the back of the vehicle,” diver Nick Rinn said upon returning topside. “She’s not in the driver’s seat. It looks suspicious to me. The vehicle’s upside down, some of the — one window’s halfway down. One window is all the way down.”
Investigators said Rodni died in an accidental drowning after she attended a massive party at the Prosser Lake Campground.
Lead diver Doug Bishop told FOX affiliates in a May 9 profile that Adventures with Purpose was an environmentalist group, with Leisek working to clean up waterways.
“His efforts led to a vehicle being discovered underwater here in the city of Portland, Oregon,” Bishop said. “Then he started focusing on just pulling vehicles out.”
Leisek and a Bishop, a towing company owner, teamed up to take out vehicles to clean up the water, but one of those vehicles ending up containing human remains. From there, the men found their niche.
“Little did we know it … we’re working in a gray area that’s not really being done,” Bishop said.
They did not plan on this, he said.
“I guess there is something there that’s extra in the universe that has guided us together on this journey to help mend families,” Bishop said. “We’re just good guys trying to do good in the world.”
Leisek’s initial appearance is set for Nov. 30, records show.
[Screenshot of Leisek via Adventures with Purpose]
