A 14-year-old boy's frantic 911 call sent Spencer police into the woods off Castle Lane on Nov. 4, where a K9 team tracked down a 59-year-old man within about 15 minutes, finding him curled up behind a large tree roughly 20 yards into the trees. That man, Leonard K. Robinson, has now been charged with indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over and failure to register as a sex offender.
According to police, the boy reported that a man had approached him on a street near his home and asked for directions before grabbing his chest and genitals. As reported by the Gardner News, the boy described his attacker as older, short and overweight, and said he ran away in fear, then turned around and saw the man staring at him. He called 911 around 8:35 p.m.
Police credited a Leicester K9 dog with helping locate Robinson in the wooded area near where the boy said the assault happened. During a police show-up afterward, the boy identified Robinson, reportedly exclaiming, “Oh my god, that is him,” per court records cited by the same outlet.
Denial, and a Claim About a Slur
Robinson denied touching the boy, according to police, and claimed instead that the boy had called him a racial slur for Black people. Court paperwork lists Robinson as white. The Gardner News report does not indicate any resolution of that competing account, and no further detail on the exchange has been reported.
Robinson is a familiar face in Spencer's business community. He operated an auto sales business on Main Street for years, opening a dealership at 324 Main St. in 2015. State records show Emerald Auto Sales Inc. renewed its registration with the state's corporations division as recently as March, and police reportedly recognized Robinson as a former Spencer business owner during the investigation.
Registration Gaps and a Prior Conviction
State records show Robinson is a Level 2 sex offender in Rhode Island, where he is registered as living in Pawtucket, and that he was convicted in 2025 of indecent solicitation of a child. According to police, Robinson admitted staying three to four nights a week at a Bellevue Drive address in Spencer but had failed to inform authorities of that residence. The sex offender registry also shows Robinson had changed his listed work address to Auburn, while court documents list him as working at Midstate Mitsubishi; a manager there said he would pass along a request for comment to human resources.
Massachusetts law on indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older, under General Law Chapter 265, Section 13H, carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in state prison or up to two and a half years in a jail or house of correction. Separately, Chapter 6, Section 178H addresses registered sex offenders who knowingly fail to register, fail to verify registration information, fail to report an address change, or knowingly provide false information. Neither statute's application to the specifics of Robinson's case has been determined, and those are maximum penalties set by law rather than outcomes in any particular matter.
Held on Bail, Awaiting Next Steps
Robinson faced arraignment at East Brookfield District Court, where he was ordered held on $25,000 bail. According to the online docket, he had not posted bail as of Nov. 5 and would be required to wear a GPS tracking device if he does. A lawyer listed as representing Robinson could not immediately be reached for comment.
