Thomas Leggs Jr. (mugshot)
Thomas J. Leggs Jr. was convicted Thursday for fourth-degree burglary stemming from a September 11, 2009 incident where he allegedly broke into a woman’s home in Ocean City, Maryland. The victim claims she never gave the convicted sex offender permission to enter her house and she woke up in the middle of the night to find a naked Leggs standing at the end of her bed masturbating. He was given a three year maximum sentence from the judge.
On April 18, 2011 Leggs will be on trial for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 11-year-old Sarah Foxwell. Sarah’s body was found on Christmas morning and he is facing the death penalty in that case. If Leggs is, in fact guilty and responsible for Sarah’s death, there is an obvious escalation in sexual attacks between the alleged September 11, 2009 incident and the abduction of Sarah. Either before, or in the interim, police fear there may be other victims who have not yet come forward. Leggs was given a three year sentence from the judge on Thursday.
The 11-year-old child was allegedly abducted from the bedroom she shared with her 6-year-old sister in the middle of the night. Police say Leggs knew the family because he dated Sarah’s aunt, who is Sarah’s legal guardian. Police believe Sarah was snatched around 1 a.m. on December 22, 2009. Her 6-year-old sister told police she woke up to “Mr. Tommy” in their bedroom talking to Sarah. Investigators were called at 10:02 a.m. and, based on the information they compiled, police were able to arrest Leggs and charge him with abduction and burglary within two hours. Sarah’s aunt told investigators that she had not seen Leggs since 32 days before the abduction. On Christmas morning, thousands of volunteers, including parents and children, gave up opening gifts to search for Sarah. Sheriff Lewis of the Wicomico County Sheriff’s office told me that one little boy even emptied his piggy bank, put it in a baggie and handed it to the Sheriff to donate to the fund to find Sarah.
Remembering Sarah Foxwell
Sarah’s autopsy is complete, and the Sheriff told me Sarah had many causes of death, all related to the homicide, but he is not ready to release details about the struggle at this point.
To me, the most interesting part of this case is that out of the 171 convicted sex offenders living in Wicomico County, Sheriff Lewis says high risk offender Leggs was one of the few offenders they checked on regularly, though they didn’t have to. According to the law, Leggs only had to register two times a year with the Wicomico County Sheriff’s office, and the Sheriff’s office wasn’t required to check on him – but they did. Sheriff Lewis says in 2009 alone they visited the residence Leggs shared with his parents seven times. They found Leggs living in an 8×14 portable shed in the backyard, and doing cabinetry work for his family’s business. Investigators also found Leggs’ sister and her three children living on the same property. This information has launched a new investigation to see if those children are victims as well. On a side note, Sheriff Lewis says he frequently visits the school that Sarah’s younger sister, Emma, attends, to have lunch with her. He says the child is doing well.
We need to reach out to the public right now, and we need to know if there are other victims. We encourage you to come forward. Please contact the Wicomico County Sheriff’s office at: (410) 548-4891
Tags: broke, convicted, court, DE, guilty, maryland, Ocean City, sarah foxwell, Thomas Leggs Jr., trial, womans home
