Jerry Wayne Smith Sentenced

A 53-year-old Alvarado, Texas, man, Jerry Wayne Smith, has been sentenced to 150 months in federal prison on a federal child pornography conviction. Smith pleaded guilty in January 2017 to one count of transporting and shipping child pornography.

U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey handed down the sentence, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas. According to Parker, “Far from a victimless crime, trading in these sickening images fuels demand for more such images which, in turn, results in more innocent children being horribly victimized.”

The case began when the Dallas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit of the Dallas Police Department (DPD) received information that Smith, a City of Dallas employee, was reported by his co-workers as possessing and viewing child pornography while at his place of employment. DPD interviewed the co-workers, who confirmed they had seen Smith view child pornography on his Apple iPhone while in the employee break room at a City of Dallas facility on September 30, 2016 and again on October 3, 2016.

On October 4, 2016, DPD interviewed Smith at his place of employment. During the interview, Smith retrieved his phone and showed DPD that he browsed images of young children on the internet. A forensic review of the Apple iPhone showed multiple files depicting child pornography and a few video files depicting child pornography.

In addition to the images and videos found on Smith’s phone, the Kik application located on the Apple iPhone showed over 800 messages, with several messaging strings having multiple attachments. The forensic review showed approximately 150 messaging exchanges, with Smith trading files of child pornography in both individual and group messages.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Shane Read prosecuted.

Smith’s sentence serves as a reminder of the serious consequences of child pornography convictions. The Department of Justice and law enforcement agencies across the country are committed to combating the sexual exploitation and abuse of children. By working together, we can help keep our communities safe and bring perpetrators to justice.