Crime & Public Safety
St. Albans man convicted in Kanawha County chld‑pornography trial
A 12-member jury in Kanawha County convicted a St. Albans man of possessing and distributing chld pornography following a trial that concluded in late September 2026. The defendant, Leo Smith Jr., was found guilty of distribution and exhibiting material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
According to court filings and trial testimony, Smith was arrested in May 2024 in Dunbar after Kanawha County sheriff’s deputies conducted a traffic stop. Deputies collected a cellphone during the stop; prosecutors said investigators found more than 600 images and videos on the device showing underage girls in sexually explicit content during a forensic examination.
Kanawha County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Ryanne Ball told the jury the content was knowingly possessed and shared by Smith, while defense attorney John Sullivan argued there were investigative missteps. The defense pointed to evidence handling errors acknowledged during the trial — prosecutors admitted that Smith’s phone and another phone were placed into incorrect evidence envelopes — and argued there was no direct testimony placing the phone in Smith’s pocket at the time of the stop.
The case remains active: Smith is scheduled for sentencing on November 13, 2026, and faces a statutory penalty range of five to 15 years in prison. Allegations about possession and distribution were presented at trial by the Kanawha County prosecuting office and deputies; the jury returned guilty verdicts on the charged counts.
All individuals accused of a crime are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
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All individuals mentioned in criminal allegations are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.