Police charge Christian school leader in Delaware with using online aliases to obtain, share child pornography

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Since July, a tall, lanky man named Justin Lee Smith has headed the small private St. Anne’s Episcopal School in Delaware.

But during that time, state police say in court records, Smith has also used several aliases online, among them “agoodtimejobud” and “anythinggoesbud.”

Using those screen names with his account on the file-sharing app known as Kik Messenger, authorities say that from July through October, Smith downloaded and distributed at least two dozen explicit videos. Many showed girls from about the ages of 6 to 16 being forcibly raped by men, according to court records.

And last week, an investigation that began in July with cyber tips culminated with Delaware authorities charging the school administrator with 25 counts of felony dealing in child pornography. If convicted, Smith faces two to five years in prison on each count.

Smith is now being held on $625,000 cash bail at the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington.

After his arrest Friday, Smith was immediately barred from St. Anne’s, which placed him on administrative leave, said Harry Baetjer, the school’s board president. On Saturday, the board fired Smith.

“This is devastating. It evokes grief, anxiety, fear, anger, and myriad other emotions,’’ Baetjer said in a release posted on the school’s website.

St. Anne’s, located on 125 acres at the western edge of Middletown in southern New Castle County, has about 300 students in preschool through eighth grade. Tuition for eighth graders is $25,300 annually.

Investigators are not aware of any victims affiliated with the school and Smith is not charged with contacting any children, prosecutors said. But since Smith had regular contact with children, authorities want anyone with information related to the criminal allegations against Smith to contact the Delaware Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force at 302-739-2030.

Task force investigators followed up on numerous reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about the suspicious activity on the accounts. Authorities matched the accounts to Smith’s telephone number, home address in Middletown, and his email and internet protocol (IP) addresses, according to the arrest affidavit obtained by WHYY News with a public records request.

Investigators also used a search warrant to get information from Kik Messenger, which provides a great deal of anonymity to users but logs their IP address. They also subpoenaed Google for Smith’s email address and Comcast for his IP address, the arrest warrant said.

When authorities arrested Smith, the affidavit said, they seized his iPhone and iPad.

The affidavit also said Smith verified that his phone number and email addresses matched the ones authorities had identified, and also that his screen names on Kik Messenger included the ones authorities said were used to deal in child porn, including “anythinggoesbud.”

“The evidence in this investigation is shocking and abhorrent,” Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in a statement. “There is absolutely nothing more important than protecting our children – especially when it comes to adults in a position of trust.”

Baetjer would not agree to an interview. The release on St. Anne’s website said Smith was thoroughly vetted before his hiring but did not provide any information about his background in education. Smith’s Facebook page has photos of St. Anne’s but no information about his prior employment.

“It is our fundamental commitment as a school to ensure that child predatory behavior has no place at St. Anne’s, and we did everything in our power to make certain that something like this would not happen in our community,’’ Baetjer wrote.

“We ran a background check, and we checked references. There were no red flags. But, the reality is that sex offender registries, criminal background checks, and reference checks are not guarantees that something unlawful will not occur.”