Colin Leahy, American Idol Arrested for Propositioning a Child

Colin Leahy, A former American Idol contestant,  who considered himself similar to Clay Aiken has been arrested for two counts of child endangerment. The 23-year-old was caught sending sex-laced text messages to a 12-year-old boy and propositioning a ten-year old while volunteering at a Brooklyn elementary school.

Special schools investigator Richard Condon said the 23-year-old was charged with two counts of child endangerment for his allegedly inappropriate behavior with students at Public School 236 in Mill Basin.The judges panned Leahy’s rendition of the American Juniors song “One Step Closer.”

“This is just about as bad as it can possibly get,” judge Simon Cowell told Leahy. “I can’t think of anything I’ve actually hated more.” Leahy shot back, accusing Cowell of having a fake British accent and saying, “He needs to lose it and find a real job.”

Leahy, who could not be reached for comment, was hired last year as a substitute paraprofessional at PS 236, a city Education Department spokeswoman said. His position was later cut, and he became a volunteer at the school through Learning Leaders, a nonprofit group. Leahy, who has no prior arrest record, had been screened and fingerprinted before working at the school. He was removed when the text message probe began.

He sent more than 29 messages on Nov. 2 to a 12-year-old student, questioning the boy about whether he’s gay, investigators said. The boy told investigators that the messages made him uncomfortable. Leahy allegedly told investigators he was “just curious” about whether the student was gay. He admitted he had discussed oral sex with two 10-year-olds but said he was only “joking,” investigators said. The students said Leahy never molested them, but one said Leahy had accidentally punched him between the legs when they went to see a movie together.

General reactions are “the pedophile needs to be kept away from children at all costs! I guess it would cost too much to do psychological evaluations on every school volunteer, but it’s pretty scary that almost anyone can have access to young kids.”

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