Dallas City Employee Who Watched Child Porn at Work Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison

A federal court has sentenced a Dallas city employee who was caught viewing child pornography at work to 12 years and six months in prison.Jerry Wayne Smith, 53, pleaded guilty in January to one count of transporting and shipping child pornography. His punishment was announced Monday.The Alvarado man was working in the city's fleet management department last fall when he became the target of an investigation by Dallas police and the FBI.Three of Smith's colleagues told a supervisor in October that they had seen Smith in a break room watching child pornography on his personal phone, court records show. The supervisor asked them to write statements that were provided to Dallas police, who interviewed the employees.An investigator then questioned Smith. He admitted to police that there were nude photos of girls and boys in his phone but said he kept them for a non-sexual reason, according to a criminal complaint.Police searched Smith's iPhone and found photos and video files depicting child pornography. Investigators also looked through the Kik app on the phone and reviewed about 150 messages that showed Smith trading child pornography files, prosecutors said.In one exchange, a man identified as Andrew suggested that Smith marry him so they could start their own "nudist incestuous family," as described in the complaint. Investigators said Smith told Andrew that he had molested children he had babysat when he was younger."During this conversation, Smith told Andrew that he was at work and that he worked in automotive parts," reads the complaint.  Continue reading...

Copyright The Dallas Morning News
Contact Us