St. Thomas, VI – United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced today that Chief Judge Robert A. Molloy sentenced Alfredo Bruce Smith, 53, of St. Thomas, to 35 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release.
Upon release from prison, Smith must register as a sex offender. On September 13, 2023, Smith pleaded guilty to a 20-count indictment charging him with both federal and territorial child sexual exploitation offenses.
“One of our greatest responsibilities is to protect our children, and we will continue to target child predators who sexually abuse them.
This case is particularly egregious because Smith used his position of trust to victimize students over a period spanning 15 years.
I am grateful to all who worked tirelessly to bring this case to justice for the minor victims who were abused by this defendant” United States Attorney Smith said.
“This case is a reminder of the inherent dangers the children of our community face every day. We must all work together as a community to report individuals committing these crimes.
Homeland Security Investigations is steadfast in its commitment to investigate and pursue justice for those who misuse their positions of trust to sexually abuse our children”, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Gonzalez-Ramos said.
According to court documents, Smith was employed as a hall monitor and track and field coach at the Charlotte Amalie High School in St. Thomas from 2006 to 2021.
During his tenure at the school, Smith sexually assaulted and exploited multiple male students who attended the school. Smith’s crimes were revealed in 2019 after he sexually assaulted a minor male student during a track and field meet in Puerto Rico.
The victim reported to law enforcement that Smith forced him and other minor male students to engage in sexual intercourse and sodomy both on and off the school campus, and that Smith used his cell phone to record himself and the minor male victims engaging in sexual acts and pornography.
Court documents further revealed that Smith’s Facebook account contained a large quantity of sexually explicit material, including videos of sexual activities between Smith and the minor male victims, recorded in different locations in St. Thomas.
When Smith was arrested on September 1, 2021, law enforcement seized a laptop, a camcorder and five cellular phones which contained a large quantity of videos and photographs containing child pornography.
Smith used his position as hall monitor to remove minor male students from their classrooms during and after school hours to sexually abuse them in empty classrooms and offices on the school’s campus.
In fact, Smith’s office, where most of the sexual abuse took place, was next door to the principal’s office. Smith also used the school’s official vehicle and camcorder to transport the minor male students and record the sexual abuse at various locations in St. Thomas.
At sentencing, Chief Judge Molloy told Smith that “Charlotte Amalie High School during those 15 years was your playground to molest those children.
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School is supposed to be a safe haven – like their home, not a place that cases trauma and pain.” Molloy further stated that “if it were not for the courage of the children who reported these atrocities, we would not know what happened.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Everard E. Potter and Natasha Baker.
source: justice.gov/former-high-school-coach-sentenced-35-years-child-exploitation-conviction
