Sheridan Man Sentenced to 35 Years for Child Sexual Exploitation

A Sheridan man will spend 35 years behind bars for his conviction of child sex crimes, according to federal court records and a press release from the Wyoming U.S. Attorney's Office.

Kyle Smith, 33, heard the sentence on July 31 from U.S. District Court Judge Alan Johnson for sexual exploitation of children and attempted sexual exploitation of a child.

Johnson also ordered Smith to serve 15 years of supervised probation after his release from custody, pay a $200 special assessment and $3,206.67 in restitution.

Court documents say the case originated early in 2022 when the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation's Internet Crimes Against Children task force received Cybertips from both Snapchat and Instagram for accounts that were associated with the defendant.

While ICAC was investigating these Cybertips, police in Mansfield, Texas, were separately investigating Snapchat accounts linked to the defendant for soliciting child pornography and sextortion.

ICAC agents obtained search warrants and discovered that Smith was messaging numerous underage girls over Snapchat and other applications.

In the messages, Smith would threaten and manipulate the underage girls into producing child pornography for him.

Besides the above two counts, Smith was indicted on charges of distribution of child pornography, attempting to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, another count of attempted sexual exploitation of children, and commission of a felony sex offense by an individual required to register as a sex offender.

The prosecution dismissed those counts at sentencing as a condition of Smith's change of plea on April 27.

This case was investigated by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation’s ICAC unit, the Mansfield, Texas, Police Department, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Z. Seth Griswold prosecuted the case.