(Des Moines, IA) -- A former Southeast Polk High School teacher has been sentenced to 24-years in prison, for sexually exploiting a student. Abraham Christopher Smith pleaded guilty in June to enticing a minor. Court documents state Smith, a full-time teacher at Southeast Polk, used a cell phone and the internet to persuade, induce, and entice a student to engage in sexual activity. Investigators say Smith used his smart phone to record the activity.
US District Court Judge Stephanie Rose also ordered Smith register as a sex offender after his prison term.
"A teacher sexually exploiting a student is a very serious crime. Students must be safe at school. Parents deserve to have confidence that educators to whom they entrust their children are not preying on them. This prosecution and sentence should send a message to any school staff member contemplating exploiting a minor that the consequences may be decades in prison." said Acting US Attorney Richard Westphal.
The case was investigated by the Iowa DCI Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Altoona Police, Polk County Sheriff's Office, and the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. The case was prosecuted by the U-S Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the US Justice Department's "Project Safe Childhood" initiative.