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June 29, 2005
Army officer will serve eight years for child sex crimes
A noncommissioned Army officer stationed at Fort Hood near Killeen will spend the next eight years in jail after being convicted Tuesday on two counts of child sex crimes.
Lamar E. Smith, 28, was found guilty of attempted aggravated sexual assault of a child and attempted sexual performance by a minor.
"This conviction shows, once again, that Texas will not tolerate those who prey on children," Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a written statement.
Smith was arrested by Abbott's Cyber Crimes Unit on June 9, 2004 when he attempted to meet a fictitious 13-year-old girl named Jessica.
Investigators with the unit search the Internet for online crimes against children, such as child pornography, the transfer of child pornography, and the solicitation of minors, said Grant Sparks, the Cyber Crimes unit attorney who prosecuted the case.
One investigator posed as the fake 13-year-old Jessica and was solicited by Smith, under the screen-name "lskilleen," who arranged a meeting time and place, he said.
"We proved that not only did he chat via a Yahoo! chat room, but he drove from Killeen to Buda and arrived at a Jack in the Box at nearly the exact time on the date arranged," Sparks said.
Smith was sentenced to eight years in prison for the first offense and was fined $10,000. For the second offense, he was given five years in prison and was fined $5,000. However, his sentences will be served concurrently.
The Cyber Crimes Unit, created by Abbott in 2003, has arrested nearly 250 child sex predators since its inception. Since May 2003, 59 arrests have been made for online solicitation of minors, including Smith.
"Child sex predators are a serious threat to young Texans, and I am absolutely committed to cracking down on this shameless abuse and exploitation by putting these people behind bars," Abbott said.
Posted by Nealus at June 29, 2005 04:42 PM
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