Former Kennesaw mayor ordered to pay $10 million to man he sexually abused as child

Written by: A. Smith

Published February 25, 2026 @ 12:00 PM ET

COBB COUNTY, Ga. – A Cobb County State Court judge has ordered a former Kennesaw mayor to pay $10 million in damages to the man he sexually abused as a child more than a decade ago.

Following a bench damages hearing Tuesday, Cobb State Court Judge Maria Golick entered a 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 in prison since December 2015 on child molestation and sexual exploitation convictions stemming from the same abuse detailed in the civil lawsuit.

The complaint, filed in March 2021, alleges that Church “engaged in sexual acts” and “viewed photographs of a pornographic nature” with B.H., who was 9 years old at the time, during a May 2014 visit to Church’s Kennesaw home.

Church was arrested the following month after law enforcement began investigating the allegations of child sexual abuse.

Just before his jury trial was set to begin in December 2015, he pleaded guilty to two counts of child molestation and four counts of sexual exploitation of children. In exchange for the guilty plea, Cobb prosecutors reduced one count of aggravated child molestation 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.

According to court records, Church signed a written statement confessing to engaging in sexual acts with B.H. and claimed the boy was his only victim.

Church remains incarcerated at Long State Prison in Ludowici. Georgia Department of Corrections records list his maximum possible release date as Dec. 3, 2033.

Church served as mayor of Kennesaw beginning in 1999 and later as a city councilman. His conviction ended his term in office. He also worked in the dental field and as a real estate agent.

The civil complaint was initially brought by the minor’s parents, identified in court filings as John and Jane Doe. They alleged that, as a direct result of Church’s “negligent acts,” their son suffered, and continues to suffer, emotional and physical injuries.

In June 2021, the court entered a default judgment against Church after he failed to file an answer or other responsive pleading. After reaching adulthood, B.H. was substituted as the plaintiff earlier this year.

At the damages hearing earlier this week, B.H. presented his own and other witness testimony and submitted additional evidence, per court records.

“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.

Church remains in prison.