Just because a Douglas man facing 72 child sex and pornography-related charges was a no-show for his arraignment on Tuesday doesn’t necessarily mean whoever put up $250,000 cash to bond him out of jail will lose all that money.
The Converse County Attorney’s Office could file a motion to revoke or forfeit all, some or none of Smallbone’s bond, said Steven Titus, a Gillette defense attorney.
Smallbone also could be ordered to pay for the costs of the Converse County Sheriff’s Office to go get him from San Francisco, where he was arrested late Tuesday, four hours after he missed his court hearing.
And those costs could likely be pulled from that $250,000 bond, said Titus, adding that he’s referencing general options and not specifics about Smallbone’s case.
That said, he thinks Smallbone missing that hearing “was stupid,” and that it’s “very rare” for someone to not show up for court when a large amount of money or their home is on the line.
“I can’t remember the last time someone willingly missed court, knowingly missed court, with that kind of money on the line,” Titus said. “It’s really rare for something like this to happen.”
As of Thursday afternoon, Smallbone was still being held at the San Francisco County Jail on a fugitive warrant out of Wyoming.
He hasn’t yet been seen by a judge there and a hearing on his extradition to Wyoming hasn’t been set, according to the Superior Court of San Francisco.
When he does get back, Titus said he would be “shocked” if the judge in his case doesn’t revoke his bond altogether or raise it significantly.
“My guess is the judge will increase the bond, because if he wasn’t a flight risk before, he’s shown he is now,” Titus said.
Who Gets The Money?
The Converse County Attorney’s Office so far hasn’t filed a motion to revoke or forfeit Smallbone’s bond, according to the public-facing court file in the case.
While he won’t comment on Smallbone’s case or circumstances, Converse County Deputy Prosecutor Nathan Shumway echoed Titus’ assessment that there are many things that can determine just how much — or little — bond is forfeited in a criminal case.
That process could include holding an evidentiary hearing to show someone “willfully violated a condition of their bond,” Shumway said in an email to Cowboy State Daily.
“In the instance of a failure to appear, what usually must be proven is that the failure to appear was willful, and not because of something outside the defendant’s control,” he said.
“If the State meets its burden, the Defendant’s bond is revoked and the process continues as if the person had admitted to violating their bond,” he added.
If not, the bond is reinstated.
The $250,000 question some are asking now that Smallbone has been picked up for the second time within a week on a fugitive warrant in another state is: Where does that money go?
It can be a variety of places, both Titus and Shumway said.
Some of the money can be used to repay costs associated with finding and apprehending someone on the run, and the court can implement penalties, Titus added.
Whatever is left goes to local schools.
“When a bond is ordered forfeited by the court, the money is paid into the county treasury to the credit of the county’s public school fund, in accordance with Wyoming Statute 7-10-105,” Shumway said.
How We Got Here
Smallbone was released from jail June 24, when someone walked into the Converse County Detention Center with $250,000 cash.
He was arrested July 22 on a fugitive warrant in Fort Collins, Colorado, after investigators learned he may have been trying to flee Wyoming.
The next day, Magistrate Heather Siegel released Smallbone on a personal recognizance bond before Converse County officials could bring him back to Wyoming.
Smallbone then was a no-show for his Tuesday arraignment hearing in Douglas, then about four hours later was arrested again in San Francisco, Sheriff Clint Becker reported.
Siegel hadn’t responded by Thursday afternoon to an offer to explain what happened in her courtroom with Smallbone.
The result was frustrating for law enforcement in two states, with Converse County Undersheriff Chris Walsh calling the release “a surprising twist” that left him “shocked.”
The Larimer County District Attorney’s Office in Colorado also has questioned how an accused child sex abuser was released.
“Mr. Smallbone was taken into custody on a valid and active warrant out of Wyoming, which included dozens of allegations of sexual crimes against children,” agency spokesperson Kylie Masserman said in a Monday email to Cowboy State Daily.
She said her office asked Magistrate Siegel to also issue a $250,000 cash-only bond for Smallbone.
That’s because the objective was “to keep him in custody until he could be transferred back to Wyoming to face his charges,” she said in the statement. “This request was consistent with what the Wyoming authorities requested and consistent with our practices on cases of this severity.”
Masserman said that instead, the personal recognizance bond was issued “contrary to our request.”
The Hearing
Meanwhile, Converse County officials were ready and waiting in case Smallbone did show up for his Tuesday hearing, or for any trouble that might ensue because of the nature of the allegations against him.
Sheriff Becker was leaning on a rail outside the justice center ahead of the scheduled hearing, flanked by five deputies.
Three more deputies manned the security station just inside the front doors, and two Douglas cops were hanging out inside the courtroom.
While there were no emotional fireworks, Becker said he and his deputies were ready “just in case.”
It was the same inside the courtroom, which looked a bit like a shotgun wedding, with the 30 or so people watching from the gallery choosing to sit behind the prosecutor’s table.
The hearing, scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m., was over by 3:35.
The Charges
Smallbone’s charges relate to a trove of videos and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) allegedly found on his phone and electronic devices while Converse County investigators were looking into a report that he propositioned a young girl, according to a court affidavit.
The mother of an underage girl reported concerning interactions her daughter had with Smallbone on May 9.
The girl was in a vehicle with Smallbone and others when he allegedly typed “if you suck me, I’ll lick you” on his phone and showed it to the girl, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Lt. Benjamin K.P. Peech of the Converse County Sheriff’s Office.
“He also mouthed the words, ‘I want to see you naked,’” the affidavit says.
Smallbone later denied mouthing anything or showing the girl any messages.
On those devices, investigators report that they found dozens of images and videos depicting prepubescent girls and boys performing a wide range of sex acts, the affidavit says. Many of the videos appear to have been created by Smallbone in rooms and spaces that are identifiable enough to connect them to alleged potential victims.
The most disturbing allegations stem from a series of at least seven videos that the affidavit reports allegedly show a young girl having her pants pulled down and being subjected to sex with a dog.
Along with the CSAM, investigators say they found “records indicating (his phone) had been used to connect to the Tor Browser, which is commonly used by subjects accessing CSAM to communicate within the Dark Web anonymously,” the affidavit says.
He’s charged with:
• 1 count of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor.
• 36 counts of possessing child pornography.
• 16 counts of using a video camera to record intimate areas of another person without consent.
• 18 counts of knowingly manufacturing, generating, or creating child pornography.
• 1 count of possessing more than 3 ounces of marijuana (1.3 pounds).
At Tuesday’s hearing, Shumway said his office intends to file new, expanded charges against Smallbone. Those weren’t available in the public court files as of Thursday afternoon.
If convicted with maximum concurrent sentences, Smallbone could face up to 791 years in prison and fines of up to $710,000.
The most serious is the sexual abuse of a minor charge, which calls for a sentence of between 25 and 50 years.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
