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Student faces exploitation charges
By Vanessa St. Gerard
Old gold and Black reporter

Sophomore Shaun Ian Smith appeared in court March 4 after being charged with 22 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor for downloading and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

Smith, a 21-year-old communication major from King, is accused of using his university-issued laptop to download and post pornographic pictures from the WAKE Radio office in the Benson University Center, where he was the station manager.

Smith faces 11 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor for the distribution of the material and 11 counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor for downloading it. According to David Hall, the assistant district attorney handling the case, Smith could be sentenced to a maximum of 25 years and eight months in prison.

"We’ve had other pornography types of incidents on campus," University Police Chief Regina Lawson said. "But this is the first that has involved child pornography that I’m aware of."

During his court hearing, the judge lowered Smith’s bond from the previously set $100,000 to $10,000, and ordered Smith to live with his parents and have no access to a computer or people under 18 without supervision once released.

According to Smith’s lawyer, the potential sentence’s severity will depend on whether he decides to go to trial or negotiates a plea.

Investigation into Smith’s conduct began Feb. 22 after University Police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that someone on campus was downloading and distributing pornographic material from a Web site.

"They made us aware of some information, and we followed up on it," Lawson said. "We then immediately sought charges on the information that we attained."

Campus police officers and an agent with the State Bureau of Investigation served Smith with what Lawson described as a "pretty hefty search warrant" on Feb. 27 at the WAKE Radio office. Investigators seized Smith’s laptop as evidence and the SBI is conducting forensic tests on it to determine the content of images viewed on it and sent from it. Smith came to the Forsyth County Hall of Justice of his own volition March 1, where warrants were served.

"I was shocked that anyone at Wake would do such a thing. I was even more shocked when I found out it was Shaun," said sophomore Cameron Tornow, who had class with Smith last semester and spent over a month working on a group project with him. "He was definitely the class clown. There was never a dull moment."

Along with his position at WAKE Radio, Smith also worked at the Pizza Hut on campus. Pizza Hut employees have declined to comment.

Lawson says WAKE Radio is not part of the investigation. "We have no reason to believe that WAKE Radio or any other individual at the station has anything to do with the case," she said. "Our investigation is focused on this one particular individual who used WAKE Radio’s office." University detective James Rae said that no other students are currently being investigated.

According to Jay Banks, the adviser to WAKE Radio and station manager of WFDD, the station had already been on the verge of choosing a new station manager. Sophomore Brett Baxter was nominated for the position on March 3.

Senior Brian Melton, WAKE Radio’s internal affairs officer, said it would have been very unlikely that Smith would have been chosen as station manager again, since the station traditionally avoids keeping the same executive officers for more than one year. The station declined further comment on the issue. As of March 4, Smith’s photograph and e-mail address had been removed from WAKE Radio’s Web site. Smith has been barred from campus and and any other university property and suspended pending further investigation.

The case has been referred to Harold Holmes, the dean of student services. Holmes said Smith was suspended March 1, the day he turned himself in.

"Everything happened at the same time and the decision (to suspend) was made, pending further review," Holmes said. Holmes went on to explain that the suspension could not be reviewed until the SBI and the university had both completed their investigations. Holmes said he was confident in the validity of the decision. "After a review of the information and its validation, that was the proper decision to take at the time," he said.

Members of the communication department were shocked by the charges against Smith. "He had a bright future ahead of him," said Beth Hutchens, an administrative assistant of the communication department.

Hutchens recently wrote a letter of recommendation for Smith, who applied to be a resident adviser on campus. "He is a neat kid. He was very responsible and mature in his actions," Hutchens said.

"My dealings with him have always been positive."

"I was shocked and saddened," said Wayne Bills, a communication professor who taught Smith last semester. "He contributed to the class in a positive way. I hope everything turns out well for him."

According to Hall, further charges can be added, depending on what else the SBI finds on Smith’s computer. "I don’t know if other charges will come up," he said.

"This may last several weeks, if not months," Clifton said.

Smith’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 22.

"This is a serious charge because of the volume of felonies," Lawson said. "When you add the value of each offense, it adds up to some serious consequences."

"I believe that any case involving child victims is one of the worst offenses in society," Hall said.

"I hope this case prevents people from downloading and uploading this type of material.

"But I can only seek a fair trial, and I seek to prosecute this case vigorously."