A Minneapolis man found in possession of over 30,000 electronic images depicting child porn will spend only four years in prison.
Christopher Todd Smith, 53, of Minneapolis was charged last spring with six counts of possessing pornographic work depicting minors and one count of first-degree possession of over 50 grams of methamphetamine, all felonies.
According to the charges, investigators executed a search warrant at Smith’s south Minneapolis apartment residence where they seized numerous computers and digital media. A subsequent forensic examination of the computers and online accounts found over 10,000 files containing child pornography, including over 1,500 videos of child pornography.
Over 3,000 of the files contained known victim images identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The digital forensic examination also found almost 20,000 files of child erotica or pornography where the age of the victim was not readily apparent but appeared underage.
The charges said Smith also possessed a 10-terabyte hard drive that could not be digitally examined because of encryption.
Inside Smith’s vehicle, investigators found 55 grams of methamphetamine and several small baggies regularly used to package narcotics for sale.
When interviewed by law enforcement, Smith told investigators that his two-year-old son stays at the apartment with him.
Alpha News previously reported on Minnesota’s lax sentencing of child predators. Research found that Minnesota gave probation instead of prison to predators on 85 percent of convictions for possession of child sexual abuse imagery and about 75 percent of production and distribution convictions. Minnesota also fails to prosecute cases in the first place, relative to other states.
Smith pleaded guilty to all seven counts last November and was sentenced last week in Hennepin County court.
Smith received a 78-month sentence on the drug count and a 25-month sentence on one of the child porn counts. The two sentences will be served concurrently. The other five child porn counts received no pronounced sentence.
In the original sentencing order, Judge Daniel C. Moreno ordered the 25-month sentence on the child porn count stayed but later amended the sentence to be served concurrently with the drug count sentence.
Under Minnesota law, offenders are only required to serve two-thirds of their sentence incarcerated. As such, Smith is scheduled for release from prison in July 2026 after serving just over 4 years, or 52 months. Smith will be required to serve the remaining third of his sentence on supervised release, and he will be required to register as a predatory offender.
– – –
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
