A 28-year-old member of the U.S. Air Force has pleaded guilty to child abuse after investigators uncovered evidence of his abuse of a child under 10 years of age. Mitchell Oren Smith, an Airman in the U.S. Air Force, entered his guilty plea on February 15, 2019, in a federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland.
According to court documents, Smith engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a child victim from at least July 22, 2017, and continuing for several months. In the course of his abuse of the child, Smith also admitted that he photographed the abuse. Investigators recovered a digital photograph from Smith’s cellular phone documenting his abuse of the victim. All of these events occurred while Smith resided at Joint Base Andrews.
Smith will be required to register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
Under the terms of his plea agreement, Smith will be sentenced to between 240 and 448 months in prison. U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm has scheduled sentencing for February 15, 2019, at 2:00 p.m.
This 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.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph R. Baldwin and Jennifer R. Sykes, who are prosecuting the federal case.
Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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