Former Bruning Woman Convicted for Distribution of Child Pornography

United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Krystal Smith, 30, formerly of Bruning, Nebraska, was sentenced today in Lincoln by United States District Judge John M. Gerrard for distribution of visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Smith was sentenced to 12 years in prison and 8 years of supervised release with special conditions. There is no parole in the federal system. Smith was additionally ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution.

This case began with a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) cyber tip indicating that Facebook user “Shane Smith” had attempted to share a video of child pornography to another Facebook user in August of 2019. Later investigation determined that Krystal Smith’s husband, Shane Smith, was responsible for this activity. On February 13, 2020, a residential search warrant was executed at Smith’s residence. Krystal Smith’s personal cellphone was among the devices that were seized during the execution of the search warrant. A forensic examination of her cellphone revealed sexually explicit files of a child in Krystal Smith’s life. These files included one video and multiple still photos which depicted the lascivious exhibition of the child’s genital area. The video and images appear to have been taken by Krystal Smith. Smith admitted to producing the video and sending it to her husband.

A review of Facebook message conversations between the Smiths additionally revealed that Krystal Smith produced and shared additional sexually explicit images and video files of the child to Shane Smith and had conversations discussing the potential sexual abuse of the child.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations.