Former Spokesman-Review editor, UI professor scheduled to change plea on child pornography charges next week

Former Spokesman-Review editor and University of Idaho journalism professor Steven Smith is expected to be sentenced following a plea hearing on child pornography and exploitation charges next week, according to the Spokane County Court website.

Smith, 74, is also scheduled for sentencing on Tuesday, a court judicial assistant wrote in a Friday email. He is charged with 11 counts of first-degree possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct following an investigation in Kentucky.

He previously pleaded not guilty to the charges in August 2023.

Smith, who served as executive editor of The Spokesman-Review from 2002 to 2008 and taught journalism ethics at the University of Idaho, was tied to the alleged crimes last year from a CashApp account registered in his name. He was using the account to send money to 10-, 11- and 14 -year -old girls in exchange for naked photos and videos of themselves, court records say.

Investigators wrote in their reports that some of the images found on his devices were also of 5-year-old girls being assaulted by men.

When Smith was arrested in his Spokane home last year, he was in the middle of chatting with underage girls at the time detectives knocked on his door, court records say. When a detective asked Smith if he knew why police were searching his home, Smith replied, “Yes, it’s probably from what I have been downloading,” according to court documents.

In May, attorneys were awaiting a federal prosecutor to join in on negotiations, but as of Friday afternoon, no federal case had been filed, according to court documents.

Court records filed following Smith’s most recent court appearance indicated attorneys were set to resolve the case instead, although if the plea does not take place, his trial is set for December.

With Smith as the newsroom’s leader in 2005, the newspaper published an investigation that eventually led to the recall of former Spokane Mayor Jim West. The newspaper, under Smith’s direction, used someone to pose as a gay high school student to flirt with West online. The methods were controversial, and Smith went on various talk shows and defended the reporting and criticized West’s decision to meet with a young man for sex.

“I have enormous sympathy for young gay men in our community who I believe were stalked and victimized by a sexual predator, whether or not they were of age,” Smith said in a televised 2006 interview.

Smith has repeatedly denied jailhouse interviews requested by The Spokesman-Review. His plea hearing is set before Spokane County Superior Court Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.