HACKENSACK, N.J., Nov. 10 (UPI) -- A New York Fox news reporter accused of sexual assault was charged with an additional count of possession of child pornography Tuesday, court records show.
Charles Leaf, 40, a general assignment and investigative reporter for WNYW-TV, New York, was arrested Oct. 8 at his Wyckoff, N.J., home on three counts of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, WINS-AM, New York, reported.
The alleged victim was a 4-year-old girl he knew and assaulted inside his home.
Leaf's computer was seized at the time of his arrest, and a subsequent forensic analysis allegedly revealed images of child pornography, said Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Kenneth Ralph.
Leaf pleaded not guilty at a Superior Court hearing in Hackensack where his request for bail reduction, now standing at $270,000, was denied, The Record of Bergen County, N.J., reported.
One of the reasons Judge Liliana S. DeAvila-Silebi gave for not reducing Leaf's bail was her concern over Leaf holding driver's licenses in three different states, the fact that not one of his friends was willing to put up their house as collateral for bail, "and the fact that he could not find a friend to live with. I have to take all these factors into account," DeAvila-Silebi said.
A condition of release for the married, ex-Marine and father of two is he cannot live at home but he must have a firm address. The judge did not accept Leaf's plan to live in a local hotel, The Record said.
