Red flags surfaced in Louisiana about Delaware school leader now charged with dealing child porn

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

Dr. Deborah Fletcher made a bold prediction in December 2021 when the man who had headed her children’s school in Louisiana for two and a half years cleared out his office.

“We will see his mug shot sometime in the future from a different school,” Fletcher texted to a friend.

Fletcher, an emergency room physician in Shreveport, was referring to Justin Lee Smith, whose rocky and controversial tenure at the helm of the private, prestigious Southfield School was ending.

During his time at Southfield, which educates preschoolers through eighth graders, Smith had alarmed parents by sending an email, obtained by WHYY News, that included a porn actor’s name and the word “threesome,’’ and by having an affair with a female staff member amid accusations of lurid behavior inside the school.

Smith, an engaging, charming man who Southfield’s board president had praised as “a tireless worker whose first commitment is to kids” upon his hiring in July 2019, soon alienated Fletcher and other parents who considered him aloof and arrogant and were concerned he would cause a public scandal and tarnish the school’s reputation.

Fletcher’s text proved prescient this month when Delaware state police charged the 43-year-old Smith with 25 felony counts of dealing in child pornography.

Smith, who since July had headed the St. Anne’s Episcopal School in Middletown, used screen names such as “anythinggoesbud” on the Kik Messenger app to download and disseminate at least 25 sexually explicit videos, including many showing girls ages 6 to 16 being raped by men, according to court records. Prosecutors said no children at St. Anne’s, which has about 300 preschoolers through eighth graders enrolled, were victims of Smith’s alleged crimes.

Smith is now being held at Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington in lieu of $625,000 cash bail. St. Anne’s officials, who have since fired him, said after the arrest that before hiring Smith, “We ran a background check, and we checked references. There were no red flags.”

But in the wake of his arrest, parents from St. Anne’s and Southfield have been in contact with each other about Smith. A handful spoke with WHYY News, with some revealing the actions and allegations that troubled them, and others questioning how Smith was able to get hired in Delaware after his time at Southfield. St. Anne’s officials say that after Smith left Southfield, he headed a Christian school in Florida.

“Oh, it’s dreadful,’’ Fletcher said of the criminal charges that could send Smith to prison for decades. “But you know, I’m not surprised. I’m not surprised at all. His character was in question and knowing that he had the porn site [reference in the Southfield email], it just all clicked. He needs to go to jail.”

Southfield’s current leader, Sunny Huckaby, would not agree to an interview about Smith’s time at the school that has about 300 pupils. Instead, her office issued a statement that did not comment on the email he sent with the porn reference, did not deny that he had an affair with a subordinate or was accused of other inappropriate behavior, and would not say why what parents contend are serious red flags were not shared with St. Anne’s in Delaware.

“While we do not discuss personnel matters, Mr. Smith’s departure was not related to interactions with students or children,’’ said the statement sent to WHYY News by Southfield communications coordinator Allie Patton. “We take any report of inappropriate behavior very seriously, and we have a process in place to investigate claims thoroughly and take appropriate action, if necessary.”

Huckaby also sent an email Thursday to “Southfield Families” that reiterated those comments and expressed dismay at the “shocking and deeply disturbing” criminal charges in Delaware. “We, too, are struggling to process this news.”

Huckaby also wrote that “we have not been contacted by law enforcement in relation to this case, though we stand ready to fully assist in their investigation, should it be necessary,’’ according to the email to families, which was forwarded to WHYY News by a former Southfield employee who received it from a parent.

St. Anne’s board president Harry Baetjer also issued an update to parents Thursday, notifying them that since Smith’s arrest, parents and officials have heard “rumors about misconduct in Louisiana.” He provided no details.

Baetjer’s update also stressed that officials at the Louisiana school not only didn’t inform the Delaware school about any problems with Smith, but that two references he provided from Southfield, as well as five others from Florida educational circles, gave “glowing accolades” about him.

Southfield “provided service letters to two state agencies and a positive letter of reference to us. The employer expressed no concerns,’’ Baetjer wrote, adding that a St. Anne’s trustee “confirmed the absence of concerns” with two Southfield employees.

‘An inappropriate line at the bottom of the email’

Smith sent the email that first startled Southfield parents on Sept. 7, 2020 — 14 months after he began running the school.

Titled “Southfield Supports the South,” Smith sent it to parents from his school email account at 7:37 p.m.

The email urged school families to donate food, drinks, snacks and cleanup supplies to assist residents affected by Hurricane Laura.

“We greatly appreciate your participation and supporting those in need!” Smith wrote.

Underneath his electronic signature, however, were three words: the name of a male porn actor whose name WHYY is not publishing and the word “threesome.”

Fletcher and other members of the Southfield community who requested anonymity told WHYY News they were puzzled by the phrase, looked it up online and were directed to porn sites. At least one parent contacted Smith to question him.

At 8:17 p.m. — 40 minutes after the first email — Smith sent a follow-up email that attempted to blame those three words on a technological snafu with “Southfield’s school management software.”

“It was brought to my attention that there is an inappropriate line at the bottom of the email. Please know we will be looking into this immediately … and we take technology security issues seriously,” Smith wrote.

“I am sending this email after this was brought to my attention by a parent. Southfield’s President of the Board is aware of this issue as well. We will both be addressing this issue first thing in the morning.”

Fletcher said she and many others soured on Smith after the email incident.

Later, however, word of Smith’s affair with a female subordinate surfaced in school circles. Officials did not acknowledge receiving or investigating such a report in the statement sent to WHYY News.

By late 2021, however, Smith had left Southfield for good, with no explanation for his departure provided to parents, Fletcher and others said. A previous school administrator replaced him on an interim basis and Huckaby, who previously held leadership posts at Southfield, later took over.

After leaving Southfield, Smith was able to obtain leadership roles at the two Christian schools in Florida and Delaware, however.

Baetjer also told St. Anne’s parents Thursday that all seven references Smith provided, including the two from Southfield, “confirmed that they would work with him again and universally awarded the highest score for meeting or exceeding expectations and good decision making …  None expressed concerns of the sort mirroring the allegations that have since come to light.”

One Southfield reference wrote St. Anne’s a letter that “lauded his many accomplishments and expressed no concerns,’’ the Delaware school said, and “identified relocation as the reason for separation.’’

Baetjer said Smith and his wife told St. Anne’s that he left Southfield because he had strict COVID policies “that angered the board, which wanted a return to lax COVID policies, and blamed him for excluding the community during COVID.”

The search firm hired by St. Anne’s “confirmed it had heard that the COVID issue prompted his departure” and a reference from Southfield “corroborated that story,’’ Baetjer’s update said.

“She disclosed no red flags, and denied any investigations, allegations, or administrative leave,’’ Baetjer told parents.

Smith’s arrest on child porn charges, said Fletcher, confirms her fears about him.

“I’m so sorry this happened to these people,’’ Fletcher said of the girls in the rape videos. “I hope for everyone’s sake, he did not harm any other children, but just the fact that he was [allegedly] looking at it is nasty.”