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Convicted sex offender charged in murder-for-hire plot against victim's family: SCSO

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Published  April 16, 2025 5:56am EDT
Sarasota County
FOX 13 News

The Brief

    • Leland Harper, 63, is accused of hiring a hit man to kill the family of a child he sexually abused in Oregon.
    • Harper faces additional sexual abuse charges in Sarasota County and is awaiting trial.
    • Deputies say Harper told an informant he wanted the victim's family dead, believing it would help him in his ongoing court cases.

SARASOTA, Fla. - A man convicted of child sex crimes faces new charges after Sarasota County deputies say he tried to hire a hit man to kill his victim's family in Oregon.

Case against Leland Harper

The backstory:

According to a probable cause affidavit filed by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, Leland Harper, 63, was convicted in December 2023 on 59 counts of child sex crimes and 14 counts of witness tampering in Oregon. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Harper is currently appealing his conviction in Oregon and is also in the midst of a civil lawsuit with the victim's family, according to documents.

Mugshot of Leland Harper. Courtesy: Sarasota County Jail.

Mugshot of Leland Harper. Courtesy: Sarasota County Jail.

Court records show that Harper was charged with additional crimes in Sarasota County in January 2024, including multiple counts of sexual battery on a victim under 12 years old, and is awaiting trial in that case.

According to the affidavit, a confidential informant came forward saying that Harper wanted someone to kill the victim's family in Oregon prior to his trial in Sarasota County, believing it would help him in court if the family was dead.

SCSO says Harper wanted the hit man to make the scene look like a murder-suicide, including sending emails from the victim's father's phone making it appear as if the father was confessing to committing sexual abuse himself and framing Harper for the crimes.

READ: St. Pete police officer arrested, accused of sharing confidential information with suspect

The affidavit describes audio recordings between Harper and the informant, during which Harper allegedly described himself as a "stone cold sociopath" and told the informant "ending that genetic legacy is doing the world a (expletive) favor" when talking about the victim's family.

Investigators say they created a bank account for the case and Harper's wife wired nearly $30,000 as payment for the planned murders.

What's next:

In addition to previous charges, Harper now faces four counts of solicitation to commit premeditated murder.

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The Source: This story was written with information from a probable cause affidavit filed by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

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