Jared Leisek, the founder of a popular YouTube group that solves missing person cases using underwater sonar to locate sunken vehicles and bodies, has been arrested on a child rape charge. Leisek, 47, is accused of raping a cousin more than three decades ago in Utah, where the statute of limitations for rapes on underage girls remains in effect until the victim turns 30. According to court documents seen by PEOPLE, Leisek allegedly raped the girl while she was between nine and 10 years old and he was seven years older at the time of the assaults.
The arrest of the widely lauded volunteer search and recovery dive team is a shock to its millions of followers, who were used to seeing him and his crew searching for cans of soda and smartphones in lakes and rivers around the country. The group grew from a small-town Oregon operation into a multimillion-dollar enterprise funded by viewer donations, merch sales and the revenue from its YouTube channels. The group most recently gained national attention when it solved the case of Kiely Rodni, a missing California teen who was found dead in a reservoir.
While many local law-enforcement agencies are eager to work with the group, it has also pissed off some. One of the group’s divers, Doug Bishop, said in a video statement that he will not be joining Adventures With Purpose after the accusations against Leisek are revealed. He says he has not been allowed to divulge the information because it would compromise the investigation and that the allegations are a “very serious matter.”
