This guy has been designated as an expert on a Agg Sex Assault of a Child/ Child Porn case I'm getting ready to try. Anyone every had any dealings with him?

Officer faces child porn charges
Experts believe Internet accessibility a contributing factor in growing number of high-profile cases
06:14 PM CST on Thursday, March 31, 2005
By STEVE STOLER / WFAA-TV

A former Sherman police spokesman is accused of possessing child pornography, in the latest child porn case involving high-profile North Texans.
Lt. Todd Smithers, who was the public face of the Sherman Police Department, resigned last month after an FBI investigation began and was eventually charged with possession of child pornography.

Smithers' attorney released a statement saying the former officer has been ill for a long time now. He said the ex-officer has an addiction, and is currently undergoing treatment.

"I don't think it makes any difference where you come from, how much money you make, what you do, what your religion is," said Plano police detective David Wilson. "You're going to find people who want child pornography."

Wilson said in cases he investigates, he commonly sees sexual addiction, which often starts with offenders downloading illegal images from the internet.

"They don't have one or two pictures," Wilson said. "It's usually anywhere from hundreds to thousands of pictures - so to me it would seem like there was some type of overwhelming compulsion to look at this illicit material."
Earlier this week, a top Boy Scouts of America official resigned his post and pleaded guilty to a charge of receiving and distributing child pornography.

"We never expect it to be our next-door neighbor, and often times it is," said forensic psychologist Dr. Tim Branaman.

Branaman often interviews people accused of child sex crimes. He said the Internet doesn't cause the growing problem, but is a contributing factor.
"It's private, it's cheap, and it's easily accessible," he said.

Men's Ministries is sponsoring a program by Dr. Tim Branaman on "The Sexual Revolution and its Effects on Society" from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday at Grace Community Church. Dr. Branaman, a psychologist and expert on treating addictive behaviors, will discuss sexual addictions, how they occur and how we can protect ourselves and our children.

I'd say it would be worth a drive over to Big D and see what the good Dr. has to say.

Erin I've dealt with him a few times on our Civil Commitment of Sexually Violent Predator cases. If you want to give me a call sometime I can probably give you any info you need.

Last time I dealt with him he wanted to prescribe Prozac to cure a serial rapist.


936-291-0431 ext. 6

[This message was edited by Joey Robertson on 07-05-06 at .]