Leiloni Blake Smith, Child Sex Abuse and Exploitation, Oklahoma 2024

Tahlequah resident Leiloni Blake Smith, 32, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a child sex abuse and exploitation scheme.

Smith was sentenced to 360 months on eight counts of Aggravated Sexual Abuse in Indian Country, 360 months on two counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child, and 360 months on two counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child by a Parent. He was also sentenced to 240 months for one count of Possession of Certain Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. The sentences are to be served concurrently.

On March 21, 2024, Smith was found guilty by a federal jury at trial on thirteen counts of a fourteen count Indictment.

Smith's co-defendant, Gregory Neil Bias, pleaded guilty to nine separate counts of child sex abuse crimes, eight separate counts of child sexual exploitation crimes, and one federal firearm crime. Bias was sentenced to 30 years in prison on July 31, 2024.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to investigators, in 2020 the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) alerted law enforcement to a Tahlequah-area internet user exchanging electronic files containing images of child sexual abuse. Agents identified, located, and arrested Bias in January of 2022 for distributing child sexual abuse materials. At the time of arrest, Bias resided with Smith.

During the investigation, searches of electronic devices belonging to Smith and Bias uncovered multiple depictions of sexual abuse perpetrated by both Smith and Bias on two children. Smith was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2022 of aggravated sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of a child, and possession of child sexual exploitation materials.

The crimes occurred in Cherokee County, within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edok/pr/tahlequah-resident-sentenced-30-years-child-sex-abuse-and-exploitation-0