The founder of the popular crime-solving YouTube channel 'Adventures with Purpose' has been arrested

• Jared Leisek is the founder of 'Adventures With Purpose,' a widely-lauded true crime YouTube channel.
• Leisek was arrested on January 5 in Utah on suspicion of child rape charges, according to jail records.
• Leisek is accused of raping his cousin in 1992 when she was 10 and he was a teenager.

Content note: This story mentions some details about the alleged rape.

Jared Leisek, the founder of a widely-lauded YouTube collective dedicated to solving cold cases by conducting search and recovery dives, was booked in a Utah jail last week for the rape of a child in the early '90s, according to jail records for the Sanpete County Sheriff's Department.

According to an indictment obtained by Insider dated January 10, the alleged rape occurred in 1992, when the victim was 10 years old and Leisek was either 16 or 17. Utah does not have a statute of limitations on rape.

"The defendant and the victim are cousins," reads the probable cause statement, alleging that the incident occurred in Ephraim, Utah, in the victim's bedroom, after Leisek pinned her to the ground and pulled her underwear down. 

Leisek's booking follows a criminal complaint filed by prosecutors in November 2022, according to People. Though Leisek was initially charged with two counts of child rape against the same victim, the second charge — that allegedly occurred the same year at a grandparent's house — has been dropped, per People. 

The status and future of the "Adventures With Purpose," or AWP, channel, which has 2.8 million subscribers, is unclear. Two weeks ago, in a Community post, the channel announced that "Jared is stepping back in as Team Leader with a new crew."

Lead diver Doug Bishop, who has appeared in recent videos on the channel, addressed the situation on his personal channel in early November. "What happened 30 years ago has come to light and is affecting everybody involved with this," he said, noting that there were "contracts in place" that impacted his ability to speak on the situation. 

According to its website, AWP has solved 26 missing person cold cases to date by harnessing sonar technology to dredge up sunken vehicles and drowning victims.

Its services are provided free to families, it says, and are funded by viewer donations, merch sales, and revenue it makes from YouTube traffic.

The group most recently garnered headlines for finding Kiely Rodni — a 16-year-old who went missing in August after attending a campground party, and whose body was recovered in a nearby reservoir. 

When reached, a legal assistant for Leisek's attorney, Randall Richards, declined to comment. Insider has reached back out to the Sanpete County Sheriff's Department for more information about Leisek's arrest and bail.

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