Sherwood Man, Formerly of Hot Springs, Sentenced to 50 Years for Production of Child Pornography

HOT SPRINGS, AR—Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that David Smith, age 38, of Sherwood, Arkansas, formerly of Hot Springs, Arkansas was sentenced to 50 years for production of child pornography today before United States District Court Judge Robert T. Dawson in the U.S. District Court in Hot Springs.

On October 6, 2011, Smith pleaded guilty to 12 counts of production of child pornography.

Following the pronouncement of Smith’s sentence, Judge Dawson ordered Smith to pay $3,000.00 in fines and serve 50 years per count, concurrent, followed by a lifetime of supervised release for production of child pornography.

Smith was convicted in Garland County, Arkansas, in 1993 for Carnal Abuse in the First Degree, a crime against a 13-year-old female. As a result of that conviction, Smith was required to register in Arkansas as a sex offender. In 2007, Smith resided with a family that included minor daughters. From 2007 through 2010, Smith produced images of child pornography of those minors and he saved those contraband images to his computer.

When Sherwood Police detectives investigated Smith in August 2010 for selling firearms over the Internet, Smith’s computer was seized and analyzed by forensic computer examiners. That examination revealed child pornography that appeared to be produced at a local residence. A.T.F. Special Agent Edwin Starr then began investigating Smith’s background and identified the minor victims, after learning Smith had lived at a particular residence in Hot Springs from 2007 to mid-2010. The victims were ages 8 and 12 at the time the abuse began and it lasted for three years.

United States Attorney Conner Eldridge commented, “These crimes are reprehensible and horrendous. The defendant has been held accountable for them and sentenced to a lengthy term in prison. We will continue to aggressively prosecute those who pose a threat to our children.”

This case was investigated by the Sherwood Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Assistant United States Attorney Kyra E. Jenner prosecuted this case for the United States.