Thomas Leggs Jr. trial to start April 18, 2011 for murder of 11 yr old Sarah Foxwell / UPDATE: Leggs sentenced to three years in prison for an unrelated burglary /Thomas J. Leggs Jr. Found Guilty & Sentenced To Life With No Possibility Of Parole.

Missing Maryland Girl Sarah H. Foxwell’s body found, aunt’s ex boyfriend arrested      
December 26: Missing Maryland Girl Sarah H. Foxwell’s body found, aunt’s ex boyfriend arrested. Another young girl falls prey to a sex offender. The eleven year old girl Sarah H. Foxwell’s body was discovered yesterday after days of search.
Thousands of people were praying for her safety since she went missing. Many hundred people were taking part in her search. And it was this mammoth search undertaken by volunteers that the poor kid’s body was found.
A thirty year old man has been charged with the murder of the kid who was living with her aunt alongwith her six year old sister.
The man arrested by the police was an ex boyfriend of Sarah H. Foxwell’s aunt.
The girl went missing Thursday from her home.
In recent months we have seen a substantial spurt in such incident and it seems authorities are sleeping and allow sex offender to take advantage
SOURCE:
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Sometimes I think if I hear another one of these stories like this I will just get sick. These tragedies would STOP if Mothers/Relatives would start making their children their top priority, not their bed partners.
R.I.P.

Interesting too, the mother didnt have custody of her children - there is a sister as well who is 6. Both were in the custody of the Aunt and the mother has not been mentioned.

these arent just sex offenders, they are murderers. cold blooded murderers. and a child too! worse than any man who would kill a man for money ya know?

I hope to hear more about why the aunt had these children. I take it they have not released the suspects name yet?

His name is Leggs, I think.

This undated picture provided on Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009 by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services shows Thomas J. Leggs Jr. of Salisbury, Md.



Searchers found the body of a missing girl near the Delaware state line after a Christmas Day search by thousands of volunteers, officials said.

Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis said the body of Sarah H. Foxwell, 11, was found at about 4 p.m. He offered few other details, but officials said earlier that a registered sex offender is being held in connection with the abduction.

Thomas J. Leggs Jr., 30, was charged with kidnapping and burglary. Leggs is a former boyfriend of the girl’s aunt, who was her legal guardian.

Leggs is listed on the Maryland and Delaware sex offender registries.

Lewis said Sarah was last seen Tuesday night at her Salisbury home, where she lived with her aunt. A relative discovered she was missing early Wednesday while checking on Sarah and her 6-year-old sister.

A “juvenile witness’’ saw Sarah leave the bedroom with a man wearing blue jeans, an orange jacket, and white sneakers, according to court records.

A statement of probable cause stated that Sarah’s aunt, Amy Fothergill, noticed that Sarah’s green toothbrush was missing from the home. Deputies found a green toothbrush and a lollipop in a truck Leggs drove. Leggs said he had been wearing jeans and white sneakers the previous night - the same clothes he was wearing when police questioned him.

Leggs is being held at the Wicomico County Detention Center without bail, Lewis said. Maryland lists Leggs as a child sex offender, but does not give details about his conviction.

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Thomas J. Leggs, Jr., of Salisbury, MD, has been arrested and charged with first-degree burglary and for Sarah's kidnapping according to the NY Daily News. He is a prior boyfriend of Sarah's aunt. He is currently listed on the Delaware and Maryland sex offender registries. He has already twice been convicted for sex crimes against young females.

Younger Sister Witnessed Abduction

Sarah's younger sister, age 6, was in the same room when Sarah was kidnapped. CBS3 reports that the sister saw Sarah leave with Thomas Leggs, Jr,. She was able to give the police a detailed description of the clothing worn by Thomas Leggs, Jr.

ABC reports that when Mr. Leggs, Jr. was captured in his home he was wearing the exact outfit the younger sister described him wearing at the time of the abduction. Sarah's toothbrush was also found in his car.

Alleged Kidnapper Won't Provide Information to Police

Mr. Leggs has not provided the police with any information. He has obtained a public defender. It is unknown whether Sarah's aunt knew of the criminal background of T. Leggs, Jr.

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Name: LEGGS, THOMAS J. JR.
Primary Residence : 30461 BENNETT RD SALISBURY MD 21804
Address Change Date: 12/18/2007
Temporary Residence : 30461 BENNETT RD SALISBURY MD 21804
Employment Address : 21020 COLTEN'S POINT RD AVENUE MD 20609
30461 BENNETT RD SALISBURY MD 21804
30461 SAME AS ADDRESS RD SALISBURY MD 21804
School Address : NA
Charge: SEX OFFENSE 3RD DEGREE (3-307)
Category: Child Sexual Offenders
Information Contact: SORU
Date of Birth: 08/07/1979
Current Registration Date: 12/03/2009
Age: 30
Status: COMPLIANT
Notify me if the status changes

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Leggs is listed on the Maryland and Delaware sex offender registries. The Maryland listing notes that he is a child sex offender, but does not give details about his conviction.

Lewis said Leggs has been convicted of a sex offense in Wicomico County and was charged Oct. 29 with fourth-degree burglary.

In 2001, Leggs was convicted in Delaware of rape involving a victim who was 16 or 17, according to the Delaware registry. The registry describes his risk level as "high" and notes he is unemployed.

Leggs, who has been convicted of assault several times, is also awaiting trial on charges of burglary and destruction of property in Ocean City.

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Heart just hurts seeing the pic of that innocent little girl. Why are there so many bad people... to hurt a child? That is the worst crime, to harm a child.
I was never a proponent of the DP, however, I bet it would be a deterrence to these horrendous crimes. These slaps on the wrists...probation, etc...do NOTHING.

Leggs, 30, who lived in a building on the grounds of his parents' Salisbury home, was arrested Wednesday and charged with burglary and kidnapping in Sarah's disappearance, police said. Two older people who answered the door at the home declined to comment Friday afternoon, asking a reporter to leave the property.

Leggs, who is listed on sex offender registries in Maryland and Delaware, was not cooperating with police, said Sgt. Charsten Wendlandt of the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office.

Sarah's younger sister told police she saw the girl leave the bedroom with the man they knew as "Tommy," according to police and court documents. Leggs, who works in his family's custom cabinet business, recently dated the girl's aunt, who is the guardian for Sarah and two of her siblings, Wendlandt said. Another relative discovered Sarah missing in the morning, he said.

Leggs knew the family kept a spare key under a pot on the porch of the home, according to court documents.

Leggs "was developed as a suspect early on in the investigation before we were aware of his criminal background, but he does have a criminal history to include third- and fourth-degree sex offenses of small, young females," said Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis.

According to charging documents, Fothergill dated Leggs "for a short period of time a month or so ago and ... Leggs just stopped contacting her." Fothergill told police that she knew that Leggs was a registered sex offender.

Reached by phone Thursday night, Fothergill passed the phone to a sheriff's deputy who said that she declined to comment. Court records indicate that she sued her sister for unpaid child support for Sarah and five other children in February 2008.

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What sort of an adult woman jumps into bed with a man that she knows has molested children? She is as sick as he is.

The aunt should be charged with endangering a child.

Court records indicate that she (the aunt) sued her sister for unpaid child support for Sarah and five other children in February 2008.

Where are the other five children? I only heard about the 6 year old. I hope the other children have been removed from the home by now. Any woman that allows a known sex offender to be around a child isn't fit to raise a child.

Another mixed up family, who it would seem, have as their lowest priority the safety and care of children.
The single sister of a woman with five children takes a couple of them, but still want to date and has very poor judgement when it comes to men. Is she the best choice to care for these little girls? No, but who else was there??

This just makes me sick. There are so many unanswered questions here. For one, why did the Aunt have the children? As BJ said, what about the other kids? Where are they now? How was Sarah killed?

And, I have a question. I have heard nothing about this on the news. Why??

There are unconfirmed reports that little Sarahs body was burned. Im listening to this on MSNBC but this is not confirmed. Im so outraged right now Im shaking.
If so this is monsterous - I wish I could find words
to describe my feelings right now, I just cannot.
The evil that Men do live after them -
The good is oft interred with their bones

Do you know what OUTRAGE is? Read Thomas J. Leggs Jr's rap sheet and
you will know what outrage is. He is the kidnapper and murderer of 11 year
old Sarah Foxwell

11/25/97 – Maryland
assault, first degree – dismissed
sex offense, second degree – 2 counts – forwarded to circuit court
sex offense, third degree – forwarded to circuit court
forwarded to circuit court – forwarded to circuit court
disposition unknown – but the 3rd degree sex offense must have been dispositioned guilty in order for him to be a registered sex offender in Maryland on this charge in 2000.

10/8/99 – Maryland
sex offense third degree – dismissed
sex offense fourth degree – nolle prosequi
assault second degree – nolle prosequi
stalking harassment – nolle prosequi
sex offense third degree – dismissed
sex offense fourth degree – nolle prosequi
assault second degree – nolle prosequi
stalking harassment – nolle prosequi
sex offense third degree – dismissed
sex offense fourth degree – nolle prosequi
assault second degree – nolle prosequi
sex offense third degree – dismissed
sex offense fourth degree – nolle prosequi
assault second degree – nolle prosequi
sex offense third degree – dismissed
sex offense fourth degree – nolle prosequi
assault second degree – nolle prosequi
sex offense third degree – dismissed
sex offense fourth degree – nolle prosequi
assault second degree – nolle prosequi

3/14/00 – failure to register as a sex offender – stay of proceedings – Maryland

3/28/00 – Maryland
sex offense, third degree – stay of proceedings
sex offense, fourth degree – stay of proceedings
assault, second degree – guilty
sex offense, third degree – not guilty
sex offense, fourth degree – not guilty
assault, second degree – not guilty
sex offense, third degree – stay of proceedings
sex offense, fourth degree – stay of proceedings
assault, second degree – stay of proceedings
sex offense, third degree – stay of proceedings
sex offense, fourth degree – stay of proceedings
assault, second degree – stay of proceedings
sex offense, third degree – stay of proceedings
sex offense, fourth degree – stay of proceedings
assault, second degree – stay of proceedings
sex offense, third degree – stay of proceedings
sex offense, fourth degree – stay of proceedings
assault, second degree – stay of proceedings

2001 – rape involving a victim under age 18 – guilty – Delaware

6/28/04 – Maryland
sex offense third degree – forwarded to circuit court – 8/12/04 not guilty
sex offense fourth degree – forwarded to circuit court – 8/12/04 not guilty
assault second degree – forwarded to circuit court – 8/12/04 not guilty

6/30/04 -Maryland
peace order issued to plaintiff – a mother on behalf of a minor
prohibits Leggs from contact, entering residence and to stay away from petitioner

2/18/05 -Maryland
fugitive from justice – nolle prosequi

7/24/06 -Maryland
domestic violence
temporary protective order issued to plaintiff Christina Leggs
malicious destruction of property – not guilty

12/25/07 -Maryland
assault second degree – guilty
reckless endangerment – nolle prosequi

9/29/09 -Maryland
burglary, fourth degree
malicious destruction of property
Case active

Registered Maryland child sexual offender for charge of sexual offense 3rd degree
Registered Delaware “high risk” sex offender for charge of rape of a minor
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Sarah Foxwell (11 years old) dead body was found burned.

what the heck was he doing walking the streets, a free man? Another case where the system failed an innocent victim.

Now you know what they are talking about when they say the guy had a rap sheet as long as your arm.

PIG, filthy rotten dirty scum pig.

The investigation continues east of Delmar into the murder of 11 year old Sarah Foxwell. Foxwell’s body was found Christmas Day – after three days of looking for the kidnapped girl. While police have not confirmed the information, some close to the investigation are saying Foxwell’s body was burned. Her body has been turned over to the state Medical Examiner in Baltimore – results are expected sometime this week. Funeral expenses for Sarah Foxwell have been covered by a local person who wishes to remain anonymous.

Funeral arrangements have been made for Sarah Foxwell—the 11-year old girl whose body was found on Christmas Day. The Funeral will be Saturday at 11 am at Emmanuel Wesleyan Church on Beaglin Park Drive in Salisbury. Donors have paid for her funeral and burial. Results from the State Medical Examiner are expected sometime this week.

A judge ordered a convicted sex offender held without bond Monday on charges he kidnapped an 11-year-old Maryland girl whose body was found on Christmas Day.

After the hearing in Salisbury, Md., Thomas J. Leggs Jr. was returned to the Wicomico County Detention Center, where he has been held since his arrest.

Sarah Haley Foxwell was taken last Tuesday from the Salisbury home where she lived with her aunt, Amy Fothergill, who had recently dated Leggs, according to court records. The girl's body was found Christmas Day in Maryland near the Delaware line after a search that involved thousands of volunteers.

Leggs, who has convictions for sex offenses in Maryland and Delaware, will face a preliminary hearing Jan. 21 on charges of kidnapping and burglary. He has not been charged in Sarah's death. Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis said Leggs will face additional charges but he did not elaborate.

A public defender representing Leggs did not immediately return telephone messages Monday.

Prosecutor Davis Ruark said details from an autopsy report likely will be withheld, but the cause of death may be disclosed. Neither he nor Lewis would confirm media reports that Foxwell's body was burned.

Since Foxwell's disappearance and killing, law enforcement officials in Maryland and Delaware have received reports that Leggs may have committed other crimes, Ruark said. He would not elaborate, but law enforcement officials scheduled a news conference Monday afternoon to ask for the public's help in investigating such reports.

A woman who answered the phone Monday at Fothergill's home said the family did not want to speak to reporters.

According to Department of Correction records, Leggs, 30, was jailed in Delaware from February 2001 to July 2001 after being charged with fourth-degree rape for having sex with a teenager who was not yet 18.

According to Maryland court records, a warrant listing Leggs as a fugitive from Delaware was issued in February 2005. Despite his status as a "high risk" offender, Leggs' information on the Delaware sex offender registry had not been verified since March 2005, a month after his arrest on the fugitive warrant.

Leggs also has a lengthy arrest record in Maryland, where he was convicted of third-degree sex offense involving a child in March 1998. He was convicted of assault in 2000 in a case that also involved several sexual offense charges and was subject to a probation violation hearing in 2006.

Leggs was acquitted of assault and sexual offense charges in 2005 but was scheduled to go on trial next month in Worcester County, Md., on charges of burglary and destruction of property.

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An autopsy has found that a Maryland girl abducted from her home last week died of multiple injuries.

According to the chief medical examiner's office in Maryland, the death of 11-year-old Sarah Haley Foxwell is listed as a homicide. The office did not specify her injuries.

Thomas J. Leggs Jr., who has convictions for sex offenses in Maryland and Delaware, faces a preliminary hearing Jan. 21 on charges of kidnapping and burglary in Sarah's disappearance.

Authorities have said Leggs will face additional charges.

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Multiple injuries? What the hell does that mean?
Please post if you hear anyting else.
The no-good dirty bastard - Id like to call him some more dirty names but I cant find anything suitable
for what I feel about a person like this.

Authorities are seeking at least two other potential victims of the man charged with kidnapping an 11-year-old Salisbury girl whose body was found on Christmas Day, the Wicomico County state's attorney said.

"I have reason to believe there are other victims out there who have not come forward before," said State's Attorney Davis Ruark, adding that authorities have received information about potential adult victims.

Thomas J. Leggs Jr, 30, is being held without bond in the disappearance of Sarah Haley Foxwell, his former girlfriend's niece, who was seen leaving her bedroom with him last week, according to court documents.

Leggs has a record of sexual offenses stretching back to age 18, when he was convicted of a sexual offense involving a 12-year-old. He was put on Maryland's sex offender registry for that case.

Leggs, who lives in a building on his parents' property and works for his family's custom counter business, is also listed on the Delaware sex offender registry stemming from a 2000 case involving a 16-year-old girl, according to court records. He was convicted of fourth-degree rape in that incident.

A funeral service is planned for Saturday for Sarah Foxwell, who was described by relatives as a bright, vivacious child.

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Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis said Monday that additional charges will be forthcoming against a registered sex offender charged in the disappearance of an 11-year-old girl whose body was found by police on Christmas day.

During a 4 p.m. press conference, the sheriff announced that more charges are expected to be filed against 30-year-old Thomas J. Leggs Jr. within the next 30 days. At present, Leggs, of Bennett Road in Salisbury, is charged with first-degree burglarly as well as the kidnapping of Sarah Haley Foxwell.

Lewis said there are no other suspects in the case, which has now turned into a murder investigation.

"We are confident we have our suspect in custody," Lewis said.

Also during Monday's press conference, Lewis asked the public for any additional information- particularly anything related to Leggs- that could be helpful in the police investigation of Sarah's disappearance and death. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Wicomico Bureau of Investigation at (410) 548-4891.

In addition, Lewis asked the public to refrain from placing flowers or other items on the Melson Road property where Sarah's body was found. He said that like the rest of the community, the owners of the property are "devastated" about what happened. He also noted that the property owners are also upset that the child's body was found on their land and are asking for privacy at this time.

In light of this, Lewis said the owners of the Arthur W. Perdue Stadium on Route 50 and Hobbs Road in Salisbury have agreed to set up a temporary memorial to Sarah. Lewis said the stadium is a fitting location as that is where more than 3,000 volunteers showed up last week to join police in their search for Sarah. Beginning Tuesday, members of the public were invited to bring flowers or other items to remember Sarah at the stadium entrance.

In related news, earlier Monday, a judge ordered Leggs to continue to be held without bond at the Wicomico County Detention Center pending further legal action. A preliminary hearing for Leggs is scheduled for Jan. 21.

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Earlier it was reported that Sarah's toothbrush was found in T Leggs' truck.

A 30-year-old registered sex offender charged in the disappearance of a Salisbury girl found dead on Christmas Day denies allegations that he harmed the child.

"Mr. Leggs has denied and continues to deny any involvement in this crime," said Arch McFadden, an attorney from the Office of the Public Defender.

Leggs is currently being kept in an area separate from other inmates, police officials said.

Leggs willingly agreed to meet with police Dec. 23 after investigators found a green toothbrush and a lollipop in a 2003 Dodge pickup truck he reported driving the night before.

At the time of her abduction, Sarah was living with her aunt, Amy Fothergill, who told police Sarah's green toothbrush was missing.

Police do not believe the toothbrush found in pickup truck belonged to Sarah, according to sources close to the investigation, and it is unclear if there is a connection between the lollipop and victim.

The investigation into Sarah's murder is continuing, and prosecutors expect to file murder charges against Leggs within 30 to 45 days, according to Wicomico County State's Attorney Davis Ruark. He expects the case to go before a grand jury.

The most recent charges filed against Leggs occurred after he was released from the Worcester County Detention Center on a $10,000 bond Oct. 29, according to court records. He was charged after a woman accused him of breaking into her Ocean City home Sept. 11.

The victim went to bed around 1 a.m., and when she woke up around 4:10 a.m. Leggs was allegedly standing near her bed with his shirt off and his pants down to his knees, according to court records.

Leggs was charged with fourth-degree burglary and malicious destruction of property.

The charges against Leggs in Sarah's disappearance follow several juvenile-related criminal charges filed against him since the late 1990s, according to court records.

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Offender's Information last verified on: 03/21/2005

Name
THOMAS J LEGGS JR.
Sex
Male
Address
30461 BENNETT RD
DOB
08/07/1979
SALISBURY, MD 21804
Height
6ft. 03in.
Weight
210lbs.

Race
WHITE
Hair
BROWN
Eyes
HAZEL
Skin
FAIR

Aliases
High Risk
Registered on: 06/11/2001

Currently in a Delaware Prison:
No
Convicted of Sex Crimes in Another State:
No
Repeat Offender:
No

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Friends and family members shared their grief, disbelief and recollections Saturday of 11-year-old Sarah Haley Foxwell, who was found slain in a wooded patch of northern Wicomico County on Christmas Day.

As about 1,600 people filed into Emmanuel Wesleyan Church, two projection screens flanking the broad, carpeted stage showed pictures taken of the blond, blue-eyed Sarah "Haleybugs" from the time she was an infant: in a highchair, on the beach, drifting on a lime green inner tube and blowing a giant pink bubble.

Sarah's mother, Jennifer Foxwell, cried as she read a poem that compared the child to a budding flower taken away at the threshold of opening. "I'll miss you, baby, and I love you, Haleybugs," her mother said.

Sarah was buried in a private family ceremony in Salisbury earlier in the week. She disappeared from her home Dec. 22, setting off a search that included 3,000 volunteers. Her body was found late on Christmas. Wicomico County Sheriff Michael A. Lewis described her death as a homicide. He said Saturday that she died of "multiple causes" but did not elaborate.

Thomas J. Leggs Jr., 30, has been charged with burglary and kidnapping in the girl's disappearance and is being held without bond at the Wicomico County jail. His attorney said last week that his client denies any involvement in the crime.

Leggs is a registered child sex offender in Maryland and Delaware, stemming from convictions in 1998 and 2001. He briefly dated the slain girl's aunt and is alleged to have known where the family kept a key hidden outside the house.

Lewis said Leggs entered the home during the night and took the girl from her first-floor bedroom. A 6-year-old sister, who was also in the room, told police that Sarah left the room with a man she identified as "Tommy."

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Prosecutors and law enforcement officials continue to wait for reports and test results from state agencies before moving ahead with plans to charge a dual-state registered sex offender with the murder of Sarah Haley Foxwell.

An estimated 200 items were submitted to the Maryland State Police Crime Lab for DNA tests, according to Wicomico County State's Attorney Davis Ruark.

Foxwell's body was found by a team of investigators on Christmas Day in a rural Delmar area. Earlier that day, 3,000 volunteers reported to Arthur W. Perdue Stadium to help find the 11-year-old girl who was reported missing by family members two day earlier.

Her remains were released from the Office of the State Medical Examiner's Office last week, but an autopsy report has not been completed at this time. Preliminary reports showed Foxwell suffered multiple injuries and the state medical examiner has determined the girl's death was a homicide, according to Ruark at an earlier news conference.

It could take up to three months to get the results back, but Ruark hopes to have preliminary results within 45 days, he said.

"Ninety days is a realistic range," Ruark said. "This is a high-priority case for the state police crime lab and the State Medical Examiner's Office."

Foxwell, a Wicomico Middle School student, was reported missing Dec. 23 after her aunt and legal guardian, Amy Fothergill, realized she was missing around 8:30 a.m. and called police. The last time Foxwell was seen alive was around 9:30 p.m. when she went to bed Dec. 22, according to court charging documents.

Fothergill told police a man she had dated for about a month, Thomas James Leggs Jr., was a registered sex offender. It's unclear at this time if she knew this information while she was dating him.

By 11:34 p.m. the day she reported missing, Leggs, a Salisbury resident and registered sex offender in Maryland and Delaware, was in police custody and had been charged with burglary and two counts of kidnapping, according to court records.

Prosecutors expect the case to go before a grand jury for indictment, but it could be months before the case makes its way to a Circuit courtroom.

"Time is on our side," said Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis at a Wicomico County Council meeting. "He (Leggs) is being held at the Wicomico County Detention Center without bond. Once we charge him, the clock is ticking. It's a strong case. There is no urgency to charge him with murder."

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Dual State sex offender and he is out roaming the streets. And, we wonder WHY our children are being accosted, molested and murdered!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:

May Sarah Rest In Peace!!!!!!!!!!!!

The suspect in the slaying of an 11-year-old Salisbury girl found dead Christmas Day was indicted Monday on charges of kidnapping, child abduction and burglary, according to online court records. Thomas J. Leggs Jr. will face additional charges, authorities have said. A medical examiner has determined that Sarah Haley Foxwell's death was a homicide. Her body was found Christmas Day. Leggs, 30, has convictions for sex offenses in Maryland and Delaware.

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I totally agree with the outrage expressed by all of you above! If anyone deserves the DP, it is him!

Rest in peace, precious little one, in the happy presence of God.

A Salisbury man accused of abducting an 11-year-old girl who was found dead on Christmas Day has made a court appearance on unrelated charges.

Thirty-year-old Thomas Leggs is charged with fourth-degree burglary and malicious destruction of property. He’s accused in court documents of breaking into the home of a 24-year-old woman he had met at a bar last September. The documents show the woman awoke to find Leggs standing beside her bed with his pants around his ankles.

Leggs’ attorney said in court Wednesday that he needed more time to prepare his case, and the hearing was postponed until Feb. 8.

Leggs has been charged with kidnapping 11-year-old Sarah Haley Foxwell, who was later found dead. He has not been charged in her slaying, but is the sole suspect.

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The District Court case filed against a registered sex offender charged in the abduction of a girl found dead on Christmas Day will be dismissed on Thursday, according to the State's Attorneys Office.



"We're dismissing it because he's already been indicted in Circuit Court with the same offenses," said Wicomico County State's Attorney Davis Ruark. "I am not dismissing any case and/or charges against Leggs. The Circuit Court has the ultimate jurisdiction over these cases."

Thomas James Leggs Jr., a 30-year-old Salisbury resident and sex offender registered in Maryland and Delaware, was charged with burglary and two counts of kidnapping on Dec. 23, several hours after the family of 11-year-old Sarah Haley Foxwell reported her missing the same day.

Leggs knew the victim, according to charging documents, and a juvenile witness saw them together the night she was abducted.

Amy Fothergill, Foxwell's aunt with whom she was living, told police she dated Leggs for a short period before the abduction. She said Leggs knew about a house key she had hidden, so he had access to her home.

Foxwell's badly burned remains were found by investigators in a wooded area off Melson Road, near Hampton Court.

The defendant's attorney, Arch McFadden of the Maryland Public Defender's Office, has previously reported that Leggs denies any involvement in the crime.

The charges came almost two months after he was released from the Worcester County Detention Center on a $10,000 bond in connection with a case where a woman accused him of breaking into her home and standing near her bed with his shirt off and pants around his ankles while she was sleeping, according to court records.

Leggs was indicted on burglary and kidnapping charges by a grand jury on Jan. 11., and the Wicomico State's Attorney's Office expects additional charges -- including a charge for Foxwell's murder -- to be filed by late February. Leggs continues to be held without bond at the Wicomico County Detention Center and is being kept away from the general prison population, according to police. He remains the sole suspect in Foxwell's murder.

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There better damned well be a charge for the murder of Sarah!!!!!!!!! What a piece of crap this "thing" is!!

Court records do not state exactly when Foxwell and her siblings moved in with their aunt, but a Wicomico Circuit Court judge on Oct. 7, 2008, ordered Jennifer Foxwell to pay Fothergill $150 a month to support the six children.

Since the time of Foxwell's disappearance, her family has declined numerous interview requests. However, Jennifer Foxwell and Fothergill released a brief jointly written statement to The Daily Times last week.

"For a variety of reasons, Amy stepped in to care for the children until Jennifer got on her feet," the statement reads. "By agreement, both Jennifer and Amy felt this was in the best interest of the children."

Foxwell's family did not offer specific reasons why Sarah and her siblings were living with their aunt. Court records, however, document a trail of events leading up to the removal of children living with Jennifer Foxwell at the time following a visit from a Department of Social Services employee.

Child Care Issues
More than two years before Sarah Foxwell was abducted and killed, her mother was indicted on two counts of reckless endangerment, two counts of confining an unattended child and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of child, all on Oct. 22, 2007.

The charges were placed on the stet -- or inactive -- docket on March 18, 2008.

According to a police report obtained by The Daily Times, a Department of Social Services employee visited Foxwell's home at about 10 a.m. Aug. 1, 2007, after Foxwell missed a meeting at New Transitions, an organization that provides mental health services.

As the DSS employee walked by a parked van in the driveway on her way to the door, she saw Foxwell's 4-year-old child inside the vehicle.

The windows in the van were up. The doors were locked. At the time, the temperature was 82.9 degrees with 56 percent humidity, according to the employee's report.

The DSS employee knocked on the door twice before the mother of six answered the door. After Foxwell came the door and the DSS employee asked her about the child in the van, they both walked toward the vehicle.

As they got closer, they realized Foxwell's youngest child, who was 2 years old at the time, was also in the van.

She would later tell investigators she took medication earlier that morning and feel asleep while lying on the couch.

The father of the one of the children in the van, Adam Powell, who was then 31 years old, was asleep in the bedroom.

Foxwell went back inside the house to get the keys and let the children out.

DSS removed the children from the home and placed them with relatives while the incident was under investigation, according to the police report.

Seven days later, during an interview with detectives, Foxwell said she hadn't known the children were in the van.

Emergency Custody Complaint
A month before the visit from the DSS employee, Foxwell's maternal grandmother, Roberta Wechsler, filed an emergency complaint for custody of Foxwell and her siblings in Circuit Court on June 8, 2007.

Wechsler withdrew the petition June 29, and the judge dismissed the case.

The six-page complaint, filed by private attorney Lenora Mihavetz on behalf of Wechsler, identifies the grandmother as the plaintiff and Jennifer Foxwell, as well the children's fathers -- Adam Powell, Thomas Foxwell III and Steven McCune -- as defendants.

At the time the complaint was filed, Thomas Foxwell III was incarcerated in the Wicomico County Detention Center. He alleged in records at the time that he was "virtually absent from the minor children's life for the last 3 1/2 years."
Court records indicate Thomas Foxwell has been incarcerated multiple times on misdemeanor charges since 2005. On the day Sarah Foxwell was reported missing, he was in the Wicomico County Detention Center on $1,000 bond, but was later released. He was incarcerated on a theft charge, according to court records.

Unsubstantiated Allegations
In the civil complaint for custody, the grandmother said she is seeking sole custody of the children because she feared the children would suffer "immediate substantial and irreparable harm" while in their mother's care.

The complaint alleges Jennifer Foxwell attempted suicide Dec. 15, 2006, in front of the four oldest children, and claims she had a long history of mental illness and suicide.

While her allegations are unsubstantiated but part of court documents, the grandmother also alleged Jennifer Foxwell used drugs, "is under the influence of alcohol the majority of the time" and kept the children from going to school.

The court document accuses Thomas Foxwell of abusing some or all of the minor children, and states that reports of the alleged sexual abuse resulted in an investigation by Child Protective Services of Wicomico County in 2004 through 2005. The alleged investigation determined "that sex abuse by Thomas D. Foxwell III was indicated."

Thomas Foxwell was has not been charged in connection with the sex abuse allegations, according to a search of the state's electronic databases.

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Worcester County State's Attorney Joel Todd says a scheduled hearing for Thomas Leggs Jr. tomorrow will not take place.
Todd says that Leggs' attorney filed for a jury trial last week, and that tomorrow's hearing in District Court was only to determine whether or not his case would be heard by a jury or just a judge.
Leggs is accused of breaking into a woman's home and standing naked in the woman's room, before she woke up and told him to leave.
The Worcester County State's Attorney's office says Leggs is facing burglary and malicious destruction of property charges.
A conviction on the charges carries up to a six year sentence.
Leggs is facing charges in Wicomico County in the kidnapping of Sarah Foxwell.
Her body was found on Christmas Day after a massive three day manhunt.
No murder charge has been filed, though Wicomico County States Attorney Davis Ruark did say that he expected that charge to come soon back in January.
Leggs is a registered sex offender in both Delaware and Maryland.

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More details involving the death of Sarah Foxwell were released Tuesday morning. Many on the shore were devastated, when 11-year-old Sarah Foxwell's body was found on Christmas day, in the area of Melson Road, Delmar.
The man charged in her abduction, Thomas Leggs Jr., now faces more severe allegations. "Yesterday the Grand Jury for Wicomico County indicted Thomas Leggs Jr. for First Degree Murder for Sarah Foxwell," said Davis Ruark the Wicomico County State's Attorney. Leggs is also being charged with First and Second Degree Sexual Offenses. "The autopsy was very thorough, the bottom line was that Sarah died of multiple injuries. It was a very detailed autopsy," said Ruark.
To protect the case prosecutors are keeping the details limited, but say there is evidence that will allow them to seek the death penalty. "One of them is that there's DNA or other biological evidence that tends to link a defendant to the crime of murder," said Ruark.
Family still live in the home on Bennett Road, once shared with Thomas Leggs Jr. A neighbor says things have been quiet in the neighborhood since his arrest. "They put up a no trespassing sign in the yard and you didn't see much of anybody over there," said Aaron Coker, who lives next to the family of Leggs. Coker is a father of a 5-year-old girl. He says he's happy to hear that the registered sex offender is out of the neighborhood and he hopes it stays that way. "Much relief, much relief. I think something should have been done a long time ago and he shouldn't have been on the streets, not the way he was," said Coker.
Leggs has been in custody since December 23, 2009, for the offenses of First Degree Burglary and Kidnapping. Officials say he will continue to be held without bond. The State's Attorney says they plan to file for the death penalty and life without parole by the end of the month.
Filing for the death penalty will automatically allow Leggs to move the trial out of Wicomico County. Prosecutors say currently there is no timeline of when the trial will start for Leggs.

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The Salisbury man accused of kidnapping an 11-year-old girl found dead Christmas Day has chosen to face a jury later this year for a trial on unrelated charges.

A scheduled District Court hearing Monday for Thomas J. Leggs Jr., 30, was scratched because Leggs invoked his right to trial by jury. The charges -- a fourth-degree burglary charge and a count of malicious destruction of property -- will go to Worcester County Circuit Court for trial.

Leggs was arrested Sept. 11, 2009, for allegedly breaking into the Ocean City home of a 24-year-old woman. The two met at Pickles Pub in the resort a week earlier. According to documents filed in Ocean City Circuit Court, on the night of Sept. 2, the victim invited Leggs back to her home in the 900 block of Philadelphia Avenue. However, after Leggs "became too sexually forward," she asked him to leave.

Eight days later, Leggs ran into the woman again, this time at the Cork Bar on Wicomico Street. He apologized for his behavior the week before, and they shared a cab leaving the bar, according to court records. When the taxi arrived at the victim's home at about 1 a.m., Leggs got out of the car with her and asked if he could stay the night. The victim declined, went inside, locked the door and went to bed.

At about 4 a.m., she awoke and found Leggs standing next to her bed, shirtless and with his pants pulled down, according to court documents. She told him to leave and called the police.

A date has not been set for his case in Circuit Court.

In May, Leggs is set to face a Wicomico County jury for allegedly kidnapping Sarah Foxwell, an 11-year-old Salisbury girl whose badly burned remains were found in a rural area east of Delmar three days after she was reported missing. Prosecutors have said they expect to bring murder charges against Leggs later this month in Foxwell's death, but to date he has been charged only with her kidnapping.

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When Patty Rothwell noticed Thomas J. Leggs Jr. hanging around her 13-year-old daughter and other teens on her porch in 2004, she recognized him from the sex offender registry. But she wasn't allowed to mention the registry when she testified in court. (Baltimore Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum / January 13, 2010)

Four days before the birth of the Salisbury girl he would be accused of kidnapping from her bedroom and killing, Thomas J. Leggs Jr. pleaded guilty to his first sex offense.

Over the next 11 years, as Sarah Haley Foxwell grew into a bright, lively middle school student, Leggs was charged with five other crimes against girls and young women, including raping a teenager on a Delaware boardwalk and grabbing a 13-year-old the same day his newborn child was brought home from the hospital.

Despite convictions for a sex offense and the rape of a minor as well as multiple parole violations, Leggs, 30, has eluded serious jail time. The Baltimore Sun reviewed court records for all of Leggs' criminal cases and spoke with several witnesses and past accusers to gain insight into the man charged with the death of the cheerful sixth-grade student whose body was found in a frozen field on Christmas Day.

In past cases, Leggs' attorneys have cut deals enabling him to serve fractions of his prison sentences. One Maryland conviction was overturned because of a police mistake. And Leggs has benefited from states' laws that forbid past convictions from being admitted as evidence in nearly all cases. Juries haven't been persuaded to convict the tall, powerfully built bar bouncer - clearing him of all charges in one case.

A Wicomico County grand jury indicted Leggs last week on charges of first-degree murder and two sex offenses in Sarah's death. He had been held on charges of kidnapping and burglary in the girl's disappearance since late December.

A lawyer representing Leggs has denied that his client is involved in Sarah's disappearance and death.

The Sarah Foxwell case has prompted calls to change the state's sex offender laws, to include lifetime supervision for certain offenders, limits on early release and bringing Maryland into compliance with federal sex offender regulations.

Unless changes are made to the way sex offense cases are handled, predators will continue to rack up repeat offenses, advocates for sex abuse victims say.

"After all the things he's done, this man should not have been allowed to walk among normal people. And he definitely shouldn't have been allowed around kids," said Kaitlyn Alley, 23, who as a middle school student in 1999 brought charges against Leggs after, she says, he groped her and a friend at a mall in Salisbury.

"When I saw his picture [after Sarah's disappearance], my heart went right to my feet," she said. "I felt like I had just been punched in the stomach."

At the time of the 1999 mall case, Leggs, then 20, was "very smooth," flattering the preteens and trying to make them feel grown up, Alley recalled. But when he invited them on a "wild ride," they refused.

Although Alley and her friend testified against Leggs, a jury found him guilty of just one of 18 charges. And that conviction was later overturned by the Court of Appeals, which ruled that detectives used improper questioning techniques.

"Having to go to court at 12 years old was not something I ever wanted for myself," said Alley, who now lives in North Carolina. "I almost feel like we had wasted our time."

The mother of another girl who accused Leggs of harassment in 2004 blames the judicial system - whether the fault lies with the state's laws, with the prosecutors or with juries unconvinced by children's testimony - for Sarah's death.

"This little girl would be here today if the system hadn't failed in this case," said Patty Rothwell, who noticed Leggs hanging around her 13-year-old daughter and other teens on her porch in 2004 and recognized him from the sex offender registry.

Before Rothwell called police, Leggs told one of the girls on the porch, "I've watched you playing in your yard and I can tell you're a wild one," and slapped another girl present on the buttocks, according to court documents. Leggs, who had just that day taken his newborn daughter home from the hospital, was charged with two sex offenses and second-degree assault; a jury later acquitted him of all three counts.

A call to the jury foreman in the case - the only juror named in the court file - to find out why the panel was unconvinced was not returned.

"The jury had no idea that he was a registered sex offender," Rothwell said. "That makes you see [his actions] in a whole different light."

Under state law, evidence of past convictions can be introduced only in rare circumstances. A defendant would never be able to get a fair trial if jurors knew of previous convictions, defense experts said.

"Just because somebody did it before doesn't mean they did it again," said defense attorney Andrew I. Alperstein, who has no connection to this case.

But knowing a child sex offender's past can convince a jury that an action is not merely inappropriate but part of a consistent pattern, advocates say.

"Many sex offenders are masters of manipulation - they dress well, they're articulate. And the only witness is a minor," said Wicomico County State's Attorney Davis Ruark. "These are different kinds of cases and should be handled differently."

Rothwell, alarmed enough by the porch incident that she took out a restraining order against Leggs on behalf of her daughter, said she is "infuriated" and "disgusted" that Leggs was free despite repeated run-ins with the law. She says she and her daughter, now a college student, have been haunted by the news of Sarah's death.

Leggs' link to the Foxwell case has prompted scrutiny in Annapolis, with some lawmakers questioning why emergency legislation in 2006 that called for extended supervision of certain sex offenders and for the creation of a Sexual Offenders Advisory Board to assess the state's handling of such offenders both failed to get off the ground.

The O'Malley administration, which contends that the advisory board was not adequately set up and that other sex offender provisions are unworkable or unconstitutional, has responded by announcing that the board will be reactivated and strengthened, with former Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. as chairman.

Though arguing that Gov. Martin O'Malley had improved sex offender supervision without the advisory board, the administration also unveiled 2010 legislative initiatives that they say go beyond what was envisioned in 2006.

The House of Delegates is slated to hear a host of sex offender bills, including the governor's, on Feb. 23. A Senate hearing has not been scheduled.

Advocates welcome the measures, but many say they don't go far enough. And while the sex offender registry can be a helpful tool for vigilant parents, it's merely an address registry. An offender can be furtively molesting children but be listed as compliant on the registry because his address is up-to-date.

"If we don't convict child molesters, it doesn't matter how strong the penalties are or how well the registry is enforced," said Lisae C. Jordan, a lawyer with the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault. "People think, 'If I just check the sex offender registry, my children will be safe,' and that couldn't be further from the truth."

Leggs earned his spot on the state's sex offender registry after an October 1997 incident involving a 12-year-old girl in a wooded park in Salisbury. An 18-year-old student at Wicomico High School, Leggs had volunteered at a Halloween "haunted trail" and was given the task of jumping out and scaring passers-by, according to court documents.

According to court records, the teen introduced himself to three girls who told him they were 11 and 12 years old, and he spent the evening chatting and playing cards with them. He focused his attentions on one 12-year-old, described as "shy" by a friend. He held her hand, and then, as her friends sat nearby in the dark, fondled her breasts and genitals beneath her clothes.

The Sun does not name sexual crime victims, unless they consent to be identified.

"I didn't say anything. I was scared," the girl told police, according to documents. Leggs called her several times afterward and tried to meet her again, but she refused, documents say. The girl's parents, who learned of the incident by reading her diary, alerted police.

Leggs confessed to police, but added, "She wasn't acting like she wasn't enjoying it," according to court documents.

In a letter to the girl and her parents, Leggs wrote: "If I would have known before I went up her shirt and messed with her lower private parts she was only 12 I most certainly wouldn't [have] messed with her at all."

As part of a May 1998 agreement, Leggs pleaded guilty to a third-degree sex offense and was sentenced to five years with all but six months suspended. He was released after four months because of credits for good behavior.

The incident involving Kaitlyn Alley and her friend at the mall happened about a year after Leggs was released from prison. The other girl spotted Leggs, a neighbor and an acquaintance of her older sister, at an arcade. The man, then 20, invited them to join him outside for a cigarette.

"He tried to make us feel older so we would go along with him," Alley said.

While they were outside, Leggs asked the girls to go on a "wild ride" in his truck, then grabbed their breasts and buttocks, according to Alley and court records.

"At first, I was trying to be cute," said Alley. "Then it just made me feel gross. I was scared."

When the girls went back into the mall, Leggs followed them, lingering outside Claire's Boutique and Spencer's Gifts as they browsed jewelry and key chains, according to court records.

Alley spent the night at the other girl's house. Leggs climbed up to the bedroom window, according to Alley and court records. He banged on the window and tried to talk to them, but left after Alley's friend threatened to call police, Alley said.

"I was terrified that night. I don't think I even slept at all because I was afraid he was going to come back," Alley recalled, adding that her friend didn't tell her parents because she was afraid of getting in trouble.

About a week later, a school counselor noticed that the two girls seemed troubled, and Alley told her about Leggs. The counselor alerted the authorities.

Upon questioning by police, Leggs confessed to touching one of the girls on the buttocks but defended his actions as playful "messing around." A grand jury indicted him on 18 counts - six charges each of second-degree assault, third-degree sex offense and fourth-degree sex offense.

In an October 2000 trial, a jury found him guilty on one count of second-degree assault involving Alley, acquitted him of three charges involving her friend, and could not agree on a verdict for two sex offense charges; a mistrial was declared on those. Leggs was sentenced to five years for the offense and an additional 4 1/2 for violating the terms of his probation in a previous case.

But in March 2002, the Court of Appeals overturned Leggs' mall conviction, ruling that detectives falsely claimed mall security cameras had recorded his actions and "made vacant suggestions" that confessing would help Leggs' case. Rather than attempting to retry the case - which would have been a "very weak case" without his confession - prosecutors agreed to a plea deal in which he only served time for the violation of probation, Ruark said.

While awaiting trial in the mall case, Leggs was accused of a far more serious crime in Delaware - forcibly raping a 16-year-old stranger on the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk.

According to court documents, the girl told police that she was outside looking for her sister about 3 a.m. when Leggs, 20, struck up a conversation and started walking with her. Documents say that Leggs "began playing around, slap-boxing the victim," playfully snatched a menu from her pocket and then tried to persuade her to have sex.

The girl walked away, but soon came upon Leggs standing near a soda machine. She went to see what he was doing and he grabbed and raped her. The girl fought him and "continuously told the suspect to stop" to no avail, according to court documents.

Detectives found Leggs' footprints, as well as those of the girl, near the soda machine and spoke with several witnesses who backed up her story. One man said he saw Leggs giving the girl an "intense stare" that "did not appear affectionate" and looked "a little weird to him." Leggs was charged with second-degree rape.

The rape charge triggered a probation violation for Leggs' sentence in the haunted trail case, Delaware authorities said. The day after the June 26, 2000, rape, Leggs was sent to the Wicomico County detention center and ordered to serve the remaining 4 1/2 years of his sentence.

A few months later, the mall case went to trial and Leggs remained in Maryland custody until February 2001, when he was moved to Delaware. The rape case went to trial four months later and Leggs pleaded guilty to fourth-degree rape, a much less serious crime, as part of a plea agreement.

It is unclear why the prosecutor who handled the rape case, Deputy Attorney General Adam Gelof, agreed to the deal. Gelof declined to respond to numerous requests seeking an explanation.

Richard Andrews, the Delaware state prosecutor and Gelof's supervisor, said Gelof "made a judgment that it would be unlikely to receive a conviction" on the second-degree rape charge. He declined to elaborate on Gelof's reasoning, or say whether the victim or witnesses were willing to testify.

In 2001, fourth-degree rape carried a penalty of up to 30 months in prison, according to Delaware sentencing guidelines. Yet Gelof requested - and Superior Court Judge T. Henley Graves granted - a sentence of six years of probation plus time served, about five months. Leggs was released back to Maryland custody in July.

That month, Gelof forwarded to the judge a request from the 16-year-old victim for $100,000 restitution for "counseling, missed work, embarrassment" and "fear." The girl was "extremely uncooperative throughout ... this case," Gelof wrote. "Her request was made after she was specifically informed, by me, that only legitimate counseling, out-of-pocket expenses would be covered and NOT emotional distress."

The judge denied restitution, saying that the damages were "more appropriate to a civil claim."

Leggs remained incarcerated in Maryland until April 2003, when he was released early. Prison authorities said that it was unclear why Leggs was released early, but that it was likely he benefited from good behavior credits. Soon after, he began dating the woman who would become his wife, and they conceived a child.

On the same day in June 2004 his infant daughter came home from the hospital, Leggs stopped by the porch of Patty Rothwell, a neighbor. Several teens were present, and Leggs struck up a conversation with one of the girls, calling her "wild" and causing her to feel "uncomfortable," according to court documents. Grabbing a wooden rod from the porch, he whacked the girl on the buttocks and then spanked her, as the other children stood around, according to the documents.

Rothwell recalls her daughter running into the house and complaining about the man's bizarre behavior. The mother, who thought he might be a sex offender based on her previous checks of the online registry, confirmed her suspicions, and demanded that he leave at once.

Several children and Rothwell testified, with prosecutors warning Rothwell not to mention Leggs' status on the sex offender registry, she said. In February 2005, a jury found Leggs not guilty of all three counts, a verdict Rothwell calls "frustrating." Leggs was released from jail.

Ultimately, prosecutors need to show enough evidence in the current crime, said David Irwin, a defense attorney and former federal prosecutor. Advocates "are on the right track if they want to hang every alleged sex offender, but they're on the wrong track if they want anyone to ever have a fair trial," he said.

In July 2006, shortly after filing for divorce, Leggs' wife was granted a restraining order against him. In a court document, she wrote that Leggs became enraged because their child was ill, punched a wall and threatened to kill her. "I know he will come after me, because he is on probation in DE," she wrote. "And he has told me if I take legal action, he will kill me."

The ex-wife told a reporter who went to her home that she didn't want to speak to the media until "that [jerk] is dead or locked up for the rest of his life." Leggs' relatives also declined to be interviewed.

Leggs' last brush with the law before Sarah's disappearance came in September, when he was accused of breaking into the Ocean City apartment of a female acquaintance he had met while working as a bouncer at a bar popular with local residents.

A 24-year-old woman who worked nearby met Leggs at Pickles Pub, where he was well-liked and seemed "very friendly, fun and outgoing," she said.

"He told me he was divorced and had a kid, but he was looking for a relationship," said the woman, who asked that her name not be published because of the intimate nature of the case.

About a week before the break-in, the woman invited Leggs to her apartment but ordered him to leave when he became "too forward sexually," according to court documents.

On Sept. 11, he approached her at another bar, apologized and shared a taxi with her. He asked to enter her apartment, but she refused, according to the documents. A few hours later, she awoke to see a man she identified as Leggs standing above her bed with his shirt off and his pants pushed down to his knees, documents say.

She made him leave the apartment, then noticed that a gaping hole had been ripped in one window screen and another screen had been removed.

"I still can't sleep at night," the woman, who has since moved out of the country, said in a telephone interview. "He didn't look like himself. He had a crazy look in his eyes."

Leggs was charged with two misdemeanors: fourth-degree burglary and malicious destruction of property, according to documents. Police did not attempt to charge him with a sex offense because he was not entirely nude - he was wearing boxer shorts - and was not acting in an explicitly sexual manner, said Officer Michael Levy, an Ocean City police spokesman.

"In order to have a sex offense, there has to be an action," said Levy. "Just having his pants down is not an action. If there had been a charge to be made in that regard, we would have made it."

On a chilly morning in late December, Sarah Foxwell's grandfather walked into the bedroom she shared with a sister to wake the girls for school. The younger girl was asleep in her bed; Sarah was missing.

When the sister awoke, she recalled seeing "Tommy" slip into her bedroom in the night and leave with Sarah. Leggs had dated their aunt and legal guardian a few weeks before and knew that the family kept a key hidden under a flowerpot on the porch, authorities later said.

Police found a green toothbrush - Sarah's green toothbrush was missing from the house - in Leggs' Dodge pickup truck, along with a lollipop.

Less than a year after he had been off probation for the Delaware rape, Leggs was arrested again and charged with Sarah's kidnapping.

But where was Sarah? Had the girl been hidden away somewhere? Was she wandering in the bitter cold, still wearing her fuzzy red pajamas and pink John Deere shirt?

The girl's school picture - an affable smile, blue-gray eyes a little weary - was flashed on TV news across the state and across the country. More than 3,000 people pushed aside their holiday plans to spend Christmas Day searching for the child. Miracles had happened before on this day and could happen again, one woman told a reporter.

That night, in a heavy rain, Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis announced that the girl's body had been found in a field near the Delaware border.

A grand jury quickly indicted Leggs on charges of burglary and kidnapping, and, after authorities' methodical investigation, added murder and sex offense charges last week.

"No one is more outraged than I am that this man was still walking the streets," said Ruark, the Wicomico state's attorney who plans to personally prosecute Leggs.

"I can't think of a case that more plainly calls out for the death penalty," Ruark said.

Baltimore Sun reporters Julie Bykowicz and Arthur Hirsch contributed to this article.

What fixes have been proposed?
The O'Malley administration is proposing several new measures:

•Reconstituting and strengthening the Sexual Offenders Advisory Board.

•Lifetime supervision for anyone convicted of rape or attempted rape, repeat offenders and those convicted of sexual abuse of a minor, among other offenses. That supervision, which could include GPS monitoring, would apply after any sentence or probation for the underlying crime. A pre-sentence investigation would occur. A violation of that supervision would result in more prison time without early release for good behavior.

•Bringing the state into compliance with the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, also known as the Adam Walsh Act of 2006, by making registration requirements retroactive; reclassifying sex offense categories; and requiring juveniles to publicly register as a sex offender if convicted as an adult, or if convicted of a serious offense in juvenile court and at least age 14.

•Giving judges authority to require sex offender registration for a person convicted of child pornography possession or indecent exposure in the presence of a minor.

•Expanding the categories of people required to have state and federal background checks. It would include checks on private employees running recreation centers, plus home health and residential agencies that provide services to minors.

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The death penalty will be sought for the man charged in the kidnapping and murder of Sarah Foxwell.

Thomas Leggs, Jr., 30, was served a notification that the state would seek the death penalty and the sentence of life without parole.

Foxwell, 11, was taken from her home a few days before Christmas Eve and her badly burned body was found in an are in Wicomico County.

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A trial date has been set for a man accused of kidnapping and murdering an 11-year-old Salisbury girl, whose body was found on Christmas Day.

Prosecutors with the Wicomico County State's Attorney's Office said they will seek the death penalty for 30-year-old Thomas J. Leggs Jr. of Salisbury. Leggs, a registered sex offender in Maryland and Delaware, has been charged with first-degree murder, first- and second-degree burglary, kidnapping, kidnap-child under 16 and first- and second-degree sex offenses in the death of Sarah Haley Foxwell.

A four-day trial in Wicomico County is set to begin May 24.



Sarah was abducted from her home the night of Dec 22. Her body was found on Christmas Day in a wooded area of Wicomico County near the Maryland-Delaware line after a massive search that included more than 3,000 volunteers. An autopsy ruled Sarah's death a homicide and found that she died of multiple injuries.

Leggs, who has been in jail since the day Sarah went missing, continues to be held without bond in the Wicomico County Detention Center.http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=12187184

Less than two weeks before being tried on murder charges, the Salisbury man charged with the kidnapping, sexual assault and death of 11-year-old Sarah Haley Foxwell has moved for a jury outside Wicomico County to hear the highly publicized case.

Thomas James Leggs Jr., 30, on Thursday filed a suggestion of removal from Wicomico County Circuit Court, or for a change of location of the case on the grounds he cannot receive a fair trial in the local jurisdiction, according to court records.

Leggs was indicted March 5 in Wicomico County and charged with first-degree murder, burglary and sexual offense, kidnapping and unlawfully taking a child under age 16 after Foxwell's badly burned body was found Christmas Day in a wooded area near Delmar.

Foxwell was reported missing Dec. 23, drawing media attention and throngs of volunteers who reported to Wicomico County Sheriff's Office command stations at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, where teams formed and scoured the region in search of the girl.

The state in March filed a notice of intention to seek the death penalty, a move that by law automatically grants the suspect's request for a change of venue, Wicomico State's Attorney Davis Ruark confirmed Thursday. He would not comment further.

"This is the type of case that I would have no comment," Ruark said.

Asked whether the state would have sought a lesser penalty knowing the suspect would seek to relocate the trial, Ruark said "no."

"We filed a death penalty notice and we intend to pursue the death penalty," he said.

Leggs' attorneys are Katy C. O'Donnell and Kay Beehler, an assistant public defender, both of Baltimore, court records state.

A new location of the trial -- originally set to begin May 24 -- will be determined by 1st Judicial Circuit Administrative Judge Daniel Long of Somerset County Circuit Court, the state's attorney said.

Leggs is a registered sex offender who has been convicted of offenses in Maryland and Delaware. In 2001, he pleaded guilty to fourth-degree rape after a 16-year-old girl told Rehoboth Beach police that Leggs raped her on the boardwalk. A Delaware judge sentenced him to seven years in prison, with all but one year suspended, records show.

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A circuit administrative judge has signed an order to move the murder trial of a man accused of kidnapping and killing an 11-year-old girl to Cecil County.

Thomas J. Leggs Jr., 31, of Salisbury has been charged with first-degree murder and other offenses in the death of Sarah Haley Foxwell. She was kidnapped from her Salisbury home on Dec. 22; her body was found Christmas Day.

Earlier this month, a judge granted Leggs an automatic change of venue from Wicomico County. The request was granted because prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.

No trial date has been set. A state prosecutor said the trial may not be held until early next year.
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It will be another 10 months before Thomas Leggs Junior stands trial in the death of 11-year-old Sarah Foxwell. Foxwell was kidnapped from her home last year and found dead on Christmas Day. Tuesday Leggs appeared in a Cecil County courtroom. The trial was moved there because Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty. The Defense asked for a new trial judge, which was granted. Retired Kent County Judge J. Frederick Price will now preside over the trial. It has been scheduled to start April 18, 2011.

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A Worcester County judge sentenced Thomas J. Leggs Jr. to three years in prison on fourth-degree burglary charges, ending a court case that began months before authorities arrested him in connection with the murder of an 11-year-old Salisbury girl.



Leggs stood accused of breaking into the apartment of a woman who turned him down for an overnight stay after a boozy cab ride home.

Pamela Sima, 24, testified in Circuit Court that Sept. 11, 2009, she awoke at about 4 a.m. to find Leggs standing over her bed -- shirtless, undoing his belt and taking his pants down to his knees.

"After it happened, it really affected my life," she told Judge Thomas C. Groton III prior to Leggs' sentencing. "For the rest of my time there, I slept with a knife by my side and a phone in my hand."

Sima also testified she had rejected his romantic advances on a date one week earlier.

A Worcester County Circuit Court jury deliberated for 20 minutes before reaching a guilty verdict Thursday. The jury found Leggs not guilty on a related charge of property destruction.

Worcester County State's Attorney Joel Todd sought the maximum sentence of three years incarceration on the burglary charge, citing Leggs' criminal record and his being on the Maryland and Delaware sex offender registries.

Sima said she was unaware of any of his criminal history while they were dating. Leggs was not accused of committing any sex offenses against her.

They first met in late August 2009, Sima said, and had gone on at least one dinner date before meeting for drinks Sept. 2 at Pickles Pub. That night, Leggs walked her home.

She later told police the two kissed, but he had come on too strong and was trying to take her clothes off "with me saying no plenty of times."

According to Sima's testimony, a week later they ran into each other at the Cork Bar. Leggs apologized for his behavior. When she flagged a taxi home, Leggs joined her in the car, uninvited.

Once at her house, he asked to stay over, repeatedly telling her that his roommates weren't letting him stay at his place, she testified. She said no, went inside and locked the door behind her.

Hours later, when she found him at her beside, she yelled at him to get out. She heard the front door open and close. But when she got out of bed to make sure he was gone, she found him standing in her living room.



"The fact that he would try to trick her into thinking he had left shows just how criminal his intentions were," Todd said. "The defendant is a dangerous individual. The best the criminal justice system can do is warehouse (him) for as long as we can for the good of the citizens of the state of Maryland."

When Leggs did leave, Sima called 911. Responding police officers found two window screens removed outside the first-floor apartment, one of which was bent out of shape.

A wooden window frame was damaged, police said, as if someone had pried away the screen. They also found scuff marks on the exterior beneath one of the windows. This evidence was the basis for a charge of malicious destruction of property, police said.

A warrant was issued for his arrest Sept. 29. He was arrested Oct. 29, and posted $10,000 bond the same day.

In the courtroom, Leggs wore a lime-green polo shirt, blue pants and black sneakers. He sported a bushy goatee and short-cropped hair. He often turned to comment into the ear of his attorney.

Leggs wore no handcuffs or leg braces of any kind because Todd wanted the jury to decide the case on the facts presented, not on the biases that shackles inevitably bring, he said.

Wicomico County sheriff's deputies escorted Leggs to the Snow Hill courtroom from Salisbury, where he is being held on charges of kidnapping, abusing and killing sixth-grader Sarah Haley Foxwell.

Her family reported her missing Dec. 22. Leggs was arrested Dec. 23. After a search that involved thousands of volunteers, her burned remains were found Dec. 25 in a wooded area by a team of investigators.

Leggs was indicted on murder and sex offense charges in February in Wicomico County, where the killing took place. In May, court officials announced his death penalty trial on those charges will be moved to Cecil County.

Leggs did not testify during Thursday's trial. At sentencing, he declined to make any comments to the judge following the vigorous advice of his attorney, Arch McFadden.



McFadden, in his closing statement, said prosecutors lacked evidence to show that anyone else had been in the house that night.

"Where's the corroborating evidence?" he said. "I submit to you: zero. Were there fingerprints taken? Was there eyewitnesses?"

McFadden -- who declined reporters' requests for comment -- was also critical of a lack of photographic evidence from the scene. He said he would file an immediate appeal.

Ocean City Police Officer Nicole Thornes, who responded to Sima's 911 call, testified that photographs taken at the scene were submitted to the department's forensics unit. However, when prosecutors went to retrieve the photos to be used as evidence, "they were misplaced somehow," according to Todd.

Ocean City Police spokesman Mike Levy said "there could be any number of reasons for that," and any cause would not be clear unless an internal investigation was conducted.

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Family members of an 11-year-old Salisbury girl sexually assaulted and brutally killed released a written statement Friday requesting that the current Wicomico County State's attorney prosecute the death penalty case against the sex offender charged in the child's murder.

The brief statement, signed by Sarah Haley Foxwell's parents, Jennifer Foxwell and Thomas Foxwell III, and her aunt, Amy Fothergill, asks that Davis Ruark remain lead counsel after the conclusion of his current term.

"During this tremendously difficult time, we have had and depended on the support of Davis R. Ruark," wrote family members. "Mr. Ruark is intimately familiar with the case. We are confident that Mr. Ruark is the person to prosecute Thomas Leggs Jr. for the unspeakable acts committed upon Sarah.

"We fully support and appreciate Mr. Maciarello's decision to have Mr. Ruark remain as lead counsel in a trial that will come just four months after the next state's attorney takes office. It is our unwavering desire that Davis Ruark, with the support of his choice of attorneys and staff, continues in the role of lead counsel for the state."

The statement was released a week after Ruark was defeated in the Democratic primary by W. Seth Mitchell, a 53-year-old Salisbury private defense attorney.

After the general election in November, either GOP candidate Matt Maciarello, a 36-year-old partner at a Salisbury-based law firm, or Mitchell will be sworn in as the county's top prosecutor in January -- three months before the Leggs trial is scheduled to begin.

"I'm most appreciative and deeply moved by the sentiments expressed by Sarah's family; however, the final decision regarding the prosecution of Thomas Leggs Jr. rests with the next state's attorney," Ruark said.

Ruark has been handling the highly publicized case since December when Foxwell's body was located in a Delmar field on Christmas day. He is the only prosecutor in the State's Attorney's Office with capital murder trial experience.

In a previous interview, Maciarello said he would offer Ruark the opportunity to remain lead prosecutor in the murder trial scheduled for April 18 in Cecil County but added he and Ruark have not worked out specific details on the arrangement.

Ruark has said he is strongly considering the "gracious offer."

Mitchell said he has not ruled out the possibility of allowing Ruark to prosecute the case.

"I would always have a policy to take into consideration whatever the victim's family's desire is," Mitchell said. "I have an open mind and have placed a call to Davis."

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