Man gets 20 years for child pornography

LITTLE ROCK — A Little Rock man was sentenced Friday to 20 years in federal prison — the statutory maximum sentence — for distribution of child pornography in which the judge called his conduct “about the worst I’ve ever seen.

Jeremy Smith, 48, was arrested Oct. 8, 2021, in Saline County and charged with rape after detectives interviewed a girl who reported he had raped her repeatedly for a number of years, beginning when she was 4 or 5 years old and continuing until she was 15. A search of Smith’s home Sept. 22, 2021, by police following up on a CyberTipline report from Instagram turned up some 1,600 child pornography images and videos on a computer found in Smith’s home, some of which appeared to depict Smith himself raping a minor girl.

A federal criminal complaint was filed Oct. 14, 2021, and Smith was federally indicted on three counts of child pornography distribution Nov. 3, 2021.

Smith pleaded guilty nearly a year ago, April 27, 2023, to one count of child pornography distribution in exchange for the dismissal of the remaining counts. The state charges against him are pending.

Accompanied by his attorney, assistant federal defender Shea Lynn Watts, Smith appeared in court Friday before Chief U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker for sentencing. Baker calculated his guideline sentencing range to be 121 months to 151 months in prison, to be followed by five years to life on supervised release. Watts asked Baker to consider sentencing Smith to a low-end guideline sentence of 121 months in prison.

“Before this incident, he’s never been in trouble,” Watts said.

Referencing the pending state rape charges against her client, Watts said if Smith were convicted in state court of those charges he would effectively be subject to “double punishment for the same conduct.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant, noting the abuse the child suffered under Smith was ongoing for more than a decade, said Smith “deserves to go to prison for the rest of his life.”

“But the court can’t do that,” Bryant said. “All you can do is send him to prison for 20 years, so we ask that you do that.”

Smith said he was abused as child and apologized for his behavior, saying “for as long as I can remember I’ve been angry and upset” at the abuse he said he suffered.

“I believed I did not count,” he said. “I did not know how to fix myself.”

After a 20 minute recess, Baker returned to the courtroom and, saying she had struggled with the issues presented by the case, turned to the attorneys for one final argument.

Watts said a low-end sentence followed with life on supervised release would be sufficient to address the sentencing factors and to ensure the protection of the public.

“That would be adequate,” Watts said. “It would show him that his behavior is not acceptable.”

Bryant disagreed. “Supervised release protects the public, but it certainly doesn’t protect the public to the degree incarceration will,” she said, renewing her request for the statutory maximum sentence.

Baker agreed to the statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, saying that once Smith is released from prison “he will be on supervised release for life.”