On Wednesday, September 24, 2025, Judge Bobby Holmes sentenced, Choi Van
Leo, 60, Spirit Lake, IA, to three life sentences without the possibility of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence on each (3) Aggravated Rape charge and 15 years in prison at hard labor
on each (4) Molestation of a Juvenile charge.
Each count is to run consecutive to each other.
From 1992 until August 28, 2000, Leo raped and molested seven children
ages ranging from 4 years old to 12 years old at the time of the crimes. Law enforcement issued an arrest warrant on September 15, 2000, for the charges of aggravated rape, aggravated oral sexual
battery, and aggravated sexual battery. Unfortunately, Leo learned about the arrest warrant before law enforcement could arrest him, and he fled the state and hid for almost 24 years. On May 24,
2024, Leo was finally arrested in Spirit Lake, Iowa after the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s office received some information from a source about his possible whereabouts.
Chief of Litigation Charles Robinson and Deputy Chief of Litigation
Taylor Alexander prosecuted the case for the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office.