BURLINGTON — A former first grade paraeducator at Colchester’s Union Memorial School has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.
Bradley Smith, 66, of Jericho, entered a guilty plea to the felony charge as part of an agreement with prosecutors during a hearing Tuesday in federal court in Burlington.
Smith, who has no criminal record, faces up to 10 years in prison on the charge and a $250,000 fine, though the actual sentence is likely to be lower than that amount.
At the sentencing hearing, which is set for Dec. 20, Judge Christina Reiss said she would take into account several factors, including a presentence investigation and federal advisory sentencing guidelines.
A criminal complaint was brought against Smith on April 1 of this year and at the time he worked at the Colchester school. A school official said Tuesday that Smith was fired April 2.
At the time of his arrest, the school district issued a statement that said, in part, “law enforcement has no evidence of any misconduct by this employee on school grounds or with any children in the Colchester School District.”
The case against Smith stemmed from a tip the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a file depicting child pornography had been uploaded to the internet from Smith’s Jericho residence, according to a police affidavit.
Law enforcement, armed with a search warrant, went to the residence where they found Smith and his two children.
When authorities asked if Smith if they would find child pornography on his computer, he said “you might, yeah,” according to the police affidavit.
A search of his computer found more than 100 images of suspected child pornography, according to court filings.
Smith told investigators that he had never taken an inappropriate photo of a child and has never inappropriately touched a child, the affidavit stated.
The plea agreement stated Smith knew that his computer “contained the child pornography because he intentionally searched the Internet using search terms and letters he knew would result in child pornography.”
Prior to working at the Colchester school, according to the affidavit, Smith was a car salesman for approximately 23 years. Before that, the filing stated, he was a fifth-grade teacher in Barre.
During the hearing Tuesday, Judge Reiss walked Smith through the rights he was giving up by pleading guilty to the charge against him.
After Smith acknowledged he understood the rights that he was giving up the judge asked him, “How do you plea?”
“Guilty, your honor,” Smith replied.
Smith has been free since his arraignment on the charge in April.
Steven Barth, a public defender representing Smith, asked the judge to allow Smith to remain free pending his December sentencing hearing.
Barth said his client had a divorce proceeding underway with his wife and his release pending the sentencing hearing would help him resolve that matter.
Also, the defense attorney said, “He does intend to seek some type of employment.”
The Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and Homeland Security Investigation assisted in the investigation.
