Yep, They Get By With Murder, Don't They?
Former police officer sentenced
Jerrie Whiteley
Herald Democrat
For 20 years, Todd Smithers helped put criminals behind bars. Monday, he found out he will be spending eight years there.
The former Sherman Police officer showed no emotion as U.S. District Judge Richard Schell sentenced him to a little more than eight years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.
The sentence came after a hearing in which Smithers' attorney, Robert Jarvis, asked the Court to consider probation for Smithers based on his service as a police officer and a plea of diminished capacity.
Jarvis said his client suffered from a severe depression that left him addicted to alcohol and sex. Jarvis contended that the addiction caused Smithers to "lead a secret life" in which he sought out pornography on the Internet. A continual "downward spiral," Jarvis said, caused Smithers to go from looking at photos of adults to those of children.
Mental health professionals testified that Smithers' addiction pushed him to continue to seek out child pornography on the Internet despite his knowledge about the legal consequences of that behavior. They said that inability to stop represented a "diminished capacity" that Smithers probably dealt with for years before his behavior came to the attention of federal officials.
On the stand, Smithers cried a couple of times as he discussed the behavior that cost him his career, the respect and admiration of friends and co-workers, and his freedom.
Smithers wore a yellow jumpsuit Monday from the Hunt County Jail. He has been incarcerated there since last week when he left a residential treatment center without the permission of federal authorities.
He spent the weekend locked in an isolation cell. Under questioning by Schell, Smithers said he is not looking forward to continuing that existence in the future but feared it might be the only way he could be kept safe if sent to prison.
Jarvis argued that Smithers' status as a former police officer and a person charged with a child abuse related crime would guarantee him problems in prison.
The attorney said sending Smithers to prison would unravel all of the hard work he has done to fight the addiction and get his life back on track. He also said the population at a federal prison won't make a distinction between a person who simply looks at photos of naked children and someone who actually abuses children.
The sentence Smithers received seemed to indicate that Schell didn't draw a great distinction either. In fact, he said the possession and transfer of such images fuels an industry that abuses innocent children. As a police officer, Smithers knew better and should be held accountable for the harm he caused.
Assistant U.S. district attorney Josh Burgess told the Court Smithers not only possessed sexualized photos of children, he also had some that were sado masochistic in nature.
Smithers, and several of the mental health professionals who testified for him, said Smithers has only recently realized that a child victim correlated to every one of those photos. The former officer said he is sorry that he ever did anything that contributed, in any way, to children being abused.
In fact, he testified that he was abused sexually as a child by an older cousin. Smithers said he got involved with a police reserve unit when he was young and started hanging out with older police officers. From those officers, Smithers said, he learned to hide his feelings about things and mask any pain he felt.
That mask was strong enough to fool a great many people. In addition to other duties in the years he spent at the Sherman Police Department, Smithers worked as a media spokesperson. He was the face of the Department when national attention focused on the city after a three-vehicle collision claimed the lives of 10 people on U.S. Highway 75.
Smithers' legal trouble began earlier this year when America On Line shut off his access to the Internet and told him to call an 800 phone number to hear an explanation about the action. Smithers said he never made that call because he knew it meant he had been caught. Instead, he cleaned all of the photos off his computer and vowed not to look at such things again.
However, he broke that vow shortly thereafter. In February, SPD began an investigation into Smithers after federal authorities advised that they were considering charges against him. SPD Chief Tom Watt put Smithers on leave and then allowed him to resign his position.
After the sentencing hearing Monday, Watt said SPD finished its involvement with the matter when Smithers resigned. When asked if there were anything about Smithers that even hinted at his off-duty preoccupation, Watt said there was nothing that he could see at the time.
"You look for the best in people," and "I wouldn't have expected this from him or anyone," Watt said.
The investigation was not the first time that Smithers had been in trouble with department heads.
In 1993, Smithers was placed on one-day suspension without pay after leaving his duty weapon inside his unlocked personal car. According to documents in Smithers' personnel file, someone stole the gun overnight from the car. He reached the rank of sergeant in 1995, but six days later was told it was a temporary appointment. Between then and 1997, Smithers reached the rank of lieutenant, although the documents were not in the personnel file.
Aug. 28, 1997, Smithers was again suspended, this time for 30 days, without pay, and was demoted from lieutenant back to sergeant. Documents say that suspension and demotion resulted after he and others were out drinking.
Smithers remained at the rank of sergeant until he again passed the civil service exam and was promoted once more to lieutenant in September 2004.
Schell recommended that Smithers serve his sentence at a federal prison in South Carolina that offers treatment to sex offenders. Jarvis had argued that such treatment didn't measure up to the care Smithers would receive from private doctors.
In addition to the prison sentence, Smithers also must serve three years probation. During that probation, he must seek treatment as a sex offender and must not have any access to a computer or the Internet. He is also prohibited from having any unsupervised contact with a child under the age of 18.
Jerrie Whiteley
Herald Democrat
For 20 years, Todd Smithers helped put criminals behind bars. Monday, he found out he will be spending eight years there.
The former Sherman Police officer showed no emotion as U.S. District Judge Richard Schell sentenced him to a little more than eight years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.
The sentence came after a hearing in which Smithers' attorney, Robert Jarvis, asked the Court to consider probation for Smithers based on his service as a police officer and a plea of diminished capacity.
Jarvis said his client suffered from a severe depression that left him addicted to alcohol and sex. Jarvis contended that the addiction caused Smithers to "lead a secret life" in which he sought out pornography on the Internet. A continual "downward spiral," Jarvis said, caused Smithers to go from looking at photos of adults to those of children.
Mental health professionals testified that Smithers' addiction pushed him to continue to seek out child pornography on the Internet despite his knowledge about the legal consequences of that behavior. They said that inability to stop represented a "diminished capacity" that Smithers probably dealt with for years before his behavior came to the attention of federal officials.
On the stand, Smithers cried a couple of times as he discussed the behavior that cost him his career, the respect and admiration of friends and co-workers, and his freedom.
Smithers wore a yellow jumpsuit Monday from the Hunt County Jail. He has been incarcerated there since last week when he left a residential treatment center without the permission of federal authorities.
He spent the weekend locked in an isolation cell. Under questioning by Schell, Smithers said he is not looking forward to continuing that existence in the future but feared it might be the only way he could be kept safe if sent to prison.
Jarvis argued that Smithers' status as a former police officer and a person charged with a child abuse related crime would guarantee him problems in prison.
The attorney said sending Smithers to prison would unravel all of the hard work he has done to fight the addiction and get his life back on track. He also said the population at a federal prison won't make a distinction between a person who simply looks at photos of naked children and someone who actually abuses children.
The sentence Smithers received seemed to indicate that Schell didn't draw a great distinction either. In fact, he said the possession and transfer of such images fuels an industry that abuses innocent children. As a police officer, Smithers knew better and should be held accountable for the harm he caused.
Assistant U.S. district attorney Josh Burgess told the Court Smithers not only possessed sexualized photos of children, he also had some that were sado masochistic in nature.
Smithers, and several of the mental health professionals who testified for him, said Smithers has only recently realized that a child victim correlated to every one of those photos. The former officer said he is sorry that he ever did anything that contributed, in any way, to children being abused.
In fact, he testified that he was abused sexually as a child by an older cousin. Smithers said he got involved with a police reserve unit when he was young and started hanging out with older police officers. From those officers, Smithers said, he learned to hide his feelings about things and mask any pain he felt.
That mask was strong enough to fool a great many people. In addition to other duties in the years he spent at the Sherman Police Department, Smithers worked as a media spokesperson. He was the face of the Department when national attention focused on the city after a three-vehicle collision claimed the lives of 10 people on U.S. Highway 75.
Smithers' legal trouble began earlier this year when America On Line shut off his access to the Internet and told him to call an 800 phone number to hear an explanation about the action. Smithers said he never made that call because he knew it meant he had been caught. Instead, he cleaned all of the photos off his computer and vowed not to look at such things again.
However, he broke that vow shortly thereafter. In February, SPD began an investigation into Smithers after federal authorities advised that they were considering charges against him. SPD Chief Tom Watt put Smithers on leave and then allowed him to resign his position.
After the sentencing hearing Monday, Watt said SPD finished its involvement with the matter when Smithers resigned. When asked if there were anything about Smithers that even hinted at his off-duty preoccupation, Watt said there was nothing that he could see at the time.
"You look for the best in people," and "I wouldn't have expected this from him or anyone," Watt said.
The investigation was not the first time that Smithers had been in trouble with department heads.
In 1993, Smithers was placed on one-day suspension without pay after leaving his duty weapon inside his unlocked personal car. According to documents in Smithers' personnel file, someone stole the gun overnight from the car. He reached the rank of sergeant in 1995, but six days later was told it was a temporary appointment. Between then and 1997, Smithers reached the rank of lieutenant, although the documents were not in the personnel file.
Aug. 28, 1997, Smithers was again suspended, this time for 30 days, without pay, and was demoted from lieutenant back to sergeant. Documents say that suspension and demotion resulted after he and others were out drinking.
Smithers remained at the rank of sergeant until he again passed the civil service exam and was promoted once more to lieutenant in September 2004.
Schell recommended that Smithers serve his sentence at a federal prison in South Carolina that offers treatment to sex offenders. Jarvis had argued that such treatment didn't measure up to the care Smithers would receive from private doctors.
In addition to the prison sentence, Smithers also must serve three years probation. During that probation, he must seek treatment as a sex offender and must not have any access to a computer or the Internet. He is also prohibited from having any unsupervised contact with a child under the age of 18.
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Boy, he sure got away with it !!
Sarcasm.
Doug0 -
There are bad cops, there are bad Paramedics, there are bad doctors.
Some would say that, therefore, one should never call police, never call an ambulance, and never go to a hospital.
Seems like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.0 -
Bad doctors and bad paramedics would have gotten 20 years. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by nunn
Jarvis argued that Smithers' status as a former police officer and a person charged with a child abuse related crime would guarantee him problems in prison.
Ya reckon?0 -
There are bad angels as I recall!!! Nuff Said.... 0
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