January 16, 2008
News Story

Online Sting Ends in Jail Time

BEDFORD, VA - A Bedford man was sent to jail for 3 1/2 years Tuesday after pleading guilty to soliciting sex from a minor and attempted indecent liberties with a minor.

Dickey Ray Smith, 22, pleaded guilty to four counts of using a computer for the solicitation and also to four counts of attempted indecent liberties with a minor.

Because Smith and Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Wes Nance agreed to a sentence beforehand, Judge James Updike sentenced Smith on the spot.

Nance told the court that Smith was arrested after a seven-month investigation by the computer-crime unit Blue Ridge Thunder. The prosecutor said Smith initiated contact a year ago with an officer posing as a 13-year-old girl.

Smith was arrested on July 16 after setting up a meeting with the officer at a Wendy's just east of Bedford on U.S. 460, the prosecutor said. After the hearing, Nance said Smith got a longer sentence than most sentenced for similar crimes until now.

A change in the law as of July 1, 2007, calls for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison for those who are seven years or more older than the minor they're soliciting, even if it's an adult posing as a minor. Nance said the commonwealth attorney's office decided not to pursue sentencing under the new law because only the end of the investigation took place after the law changed and because the age difference was so close to seven years. However, he said, the threat of doing so was used to persuade Smith to plead guilty instead of going to trial.

"In other words, he got heavier active time than on similar charges in the past, but we didn't drop the boom on him," Nance said.

Updike sentenced Smith to a total of eight years with 4 1/2 suspended. Updike ordered him to complete four years of probation, register as a sex offender and to undergo sex offender treatment and counseling as suggested by his probation officer. The judge barred Smith from having unsupervised or unapproved contact with minors and from accessing the Internet except for legitimate educational or work use.

Related Articles:
07.18.2007 - Suspected Child Sexual Predator Struck by Thunder

Story Courtesy of The News Advance
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