Bonifay man guilty as charged for 10 counts of possession of child pornography

BONIFAY – A Bonifay man found guilty as charged of 10 counts of Possession of Child Pornography Tuesday is set for sentencing July 17, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Benjamin Timothy Smith, 49, of Bonifay, was arrested in October following an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. A 6-person jury deliberated for 23 minutes before finding the defendant guilty as charged.

Circuit Court Judge Russell Roberts set sentencing for July 17.

Holmes County Chief Prosecutor Jacob Cook called three witnesses and presented evidence proving that the defendant was in possession of 10 sexually explicit images of girls who appeared to be between 6 and 10 years of age. Some of the images depicted the victims being sexually assaulted.

Testimony and evidence showed that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on May 11, 2023, about suspected upload of images of sexual exploitation of children. The NCMEC provides services nationwide to prevent the abduction and sexual exploitation of children.

That tip led them to the defendant. Investigators executed a search warrant and recovered the images uploaded by the defendant.

Basford thanked the FDLE and the NCMEC for their successful investigation.