LANSING — Yesterday, Edward Eugene Smith, 35, formerly of Cadillac and most recently residing in Seattle, WA, was sentenced to 10-30 years’ incarceration by visiting Judge Bill Fagerman in the 28th Circuit Court in Wexford County for crimes committed in 2018 against a then-14-year-old victim, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Smith pled no contest in September to one count each of Child Sexually Abusive Activity, Accosting a Minor for Immoral Purposes, and Using a Computer to Commit Child Sexually Abusive Activity. 

In 2018, then-28-year-old Smith contrived a scenario to convince a 14-year-old high school student to pose partially nude while he photographed her in his apartment. A roommate discovered the photographs on a device owned by Smith and alerted authorities. Smith was charged criminally by the Wexford County Prosecuting Attorney in 2018, though Smith soon left the State of Michigan.  

“The bravery of the victim and a roommate who reported this crime, combined with the dedicated work of the Cadillac Police Department, the Wexford County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, U.S. Marshall’s Office, and the Oasis Family Resource Center, ensured that this offender was held accountable and the victim received the support she needed,” Nessel said. “My office will continue to work with our partners to bring justice to victims of sexual abuse.”  

The victim in this matter provided to the Court a victim impact statement that read, in part, “The trauma you caused has stuck with me physically, my skin reacting to the chemicals released by one’s brain when they get put through such horrendous things. It burns, it cracks and separates. It constantly dries out and is itching; almost as if my skin itself cries out and claims if it is ugly, no one will do such things to me again.” 

She later wrote, “I will relish in every day I get to heal and grow and do things I want, when I want. Raising my sons into fine young men who will do everything they can to protect the people around them from folks like you because they will know what is right and what is wrong.” 

Under Operation Survivor Justice, Smith was arrested in Seattle, Washington in February of this year and extradited to Michigan to face these charges. The Operation is a partnership between the Michigan Department of Attorney General, local county prosecutors, and the U.S. Marshals Service to locate, apprehend, and return to Michigan fugitive offenders with outstanding sexual assault warrants.