Former Carl Junction R-1 music teacher Craig Smith stalked a student beginning in her sixth grade year and for the next five years, according to a probable cause statement filed today in Jasper County Circuit Court.
The Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney's office filed stalking and possession of child pornography charges against Smith, who in addition to a 30-year career in education, has been a minister in area churches. He is being held in the Jasper County Jail on a $300,000 cash-only bond on the child pornography charged and $100,000 on the stalking charge.
Smith was placed on administrative leave in August by the Carl Junction R-1, with the Board of Education allowing him to "retire" in a decision made at the November meeting.
The probable cause statement indicates R-1 officials had been aware of Smith's alleged inappropriate behavior toward the girl for years, had disciplined him for it and even approved moving Smith, at his request from his previous assignment to one that would enable him to be close to the girl when she was promoted to junior high.
From September 2018 when Victim 1 was in sixth grade up until November of 2023 Smith, a schoolteacher with the Carl Junction School District, has through his course of conduct disturbed Victim 1 by giving her gifts, arranging for her to have lunch with him in his office and·sending her inappropriate letters, text messages and voice messages.Since 2019, Smith has sent thousands of· electronic communications to Victim 1. Most of these communications were initiated by Smith, outside of school hours, unrelated to school activities, and many of them contain inappropriate content.
Despite complaints and disciplinary action, Smith continued to find ways to have private interactions with Victim 1. When Victim 1 was promoted from the Intermediate School to the Junior High School Smith transferred to the Junior High School as well.
When Victim 1 blocked Smith from social media and her phone, Smith found other methods to contact her.
As a result of Smith's ongoing course of conduct Victim 1 has experienced fear and anxiety, which has interfered with her ability to feel safe at school and interact with teachers, Smith's behavior continues to be a source of distress for her.
Jasper County Associate Circuit Court Judge Luke Boyer approved a full order of protection in November, which reportedly is connected to this case.
The stalking charge is not the only one facing Smith.
An examination of his work computer revealed child pornography, according to the probable cause statement:
The data extraction is part of an ongoing investigation related to the stalking of a student. These devices were located and seized after obtaining a lawful search warrant for the choir classroom and office assigned to Craig S. Smith located at 306 Keeney, Carl Junction, MO, Jasper County.
These laptops were password protected for the exclusive professional use of Smith. lt was verified by the Carl Junction School District information technology department that Craig S. Smith was the sole recipient of these issued laptop devices and that the only way to access the information on these devices was by using the password credentials of Craig S. Smith.
Craig Smith was last at work in the choir room and his office on 08/29/2024. Detective Greene turned this data over to me, Detective Castlebury who used Cellebrite software to examine each image from the devices. I found the following:
- On device #1 I found 387 still images that appeared to be Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). These images contained juvenile victims who were very young in age and appearing to be prepubescent, exposing their genitals in a sexual nature as well as performing sexual acts with other children, adults and animals.
The images were mostly of girls that range in estimated age from 6 months old to 17 years of age. The young boys depicted in these images ranged in estimated ages from 8 to 10 years old that. The images were saved as thumbnails on the device, meaning that the images had been downloaded onto the computer.
- On device #2, I found 251 still images that appeared to be Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). These images contained juvenile victims who were very young in age and appearing to be prepubescent, exposing their genitals in a sexual nature as well as performing sexual acts with other children, adults and animals.
The images were mostly of girls that range in estimated age from 6 months old to 17 years of age. The young boys depicted in these images ranged in estimated ages from 8 to 10 years old that. The images were saved as thumbnails on the device, meaning that these images had been downloaded onto the computer
In a news release Thursday, the Carl Junction Police Department noted that no pornographic images of Smith's alleged stalking victim were discovered.
