42-year-old man accused of sending sexual video to 14-year-old
State police on Friday arrested a Butler man accused of urging a 14-year-old girl to leave her home El Paso, Texas, and sending her videos of him performing a sex act on himself.
Anthony John Smith, 42, faces charges of unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors, sexual abuse of children through the production of child pornography and interference with custody of children. He is in Butler County Prison on $50,000 monetary bail.
Trooper Bernard Novak, a member of the state police's bureau of criminal investigation, was tipped off on Sept. 7 by a federal task force that the El Paso Police Department was investigating reports that Smith was communicating online with a child, according to a criminal complaint.
Police say Smith initially posed as a 15-year-old and soon their online communication grew to include platforms like Pinterest, Instagram and Textnow and other social media outlets.
This is an excerpt — read the full story in Sunday's Butler Eagle.
