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Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Courts

 on 72 child sex and pornography charges in a Wyoming district court on Tuesday, John C. Smallbone was arrested on a fugitive warrant in San Francisco.

The 38-year-old Douglas man told Judge F. Scott Peasley through his public defender that he feared for his life if he were to show up for his plea hearing Tuesday.

In the meantime, it seems he was on his way to San Francisco, and was arrested by police officers there about four hours after his 3:30 p.m. hearing ended in a Douglas courtroom, according to the Converse County Sheriff’s Office.

 someone had put up to bond him out of jail last month.

That comes out to $62,500 for each hour of freedom he had between the time Peasley issued a new fugitive warrant for Smallbone and the time he was arrested in San Francisco, said Sheriff Clint Becker.

“Yeah, that’s about it. That’s pretty expensive,” Becker told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday morning. “I don’t know who put up the bond for him, but that’s the kind of chance you take.”

The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office confirms through its online inmate roster that Smallbone remains in custody there, being held on the Wyoming fugitive felony warrant.

Becker said he never doubted Smallbone would be caught again after a Fort Collins, Colorado, magistrate 

 there last week on his own recognizance instead of holding him for Wyoming authorities.

[{"type":"text","text":"But he’s pleased that happened as quickly as it did."}]

“We’re pretty happy with that, of course,” Becker said. “We didn’t want a person with those types of charges to be out and about. I had faith we would catch him.”

Becker said he couldn’t talk about just how his investigators — Lt. Ben Peech and Cpl. Amber Peterson — learned Smallbone was on his way to San Francisco. However, he praised their continued work on his case.

“I’m extremely proud of Lieutenant Peech and Corporal Peterson for their relentless dedication and professional investigative work,” he said. “Their persistence, combined with the excellent partnership and support of our colleagues in San Francisco, made this arrest possible.”

Smallbone also is supposed to return for another hearing in the Colorado court on Thursday to follow up on his arrest last week.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Hopefully …’"}]

Now that Smallbone has been caught fleeing Wyoming and the dozens of felony charges he faces here twice in less than a week, Becker said he hopes there isn’t a repeat of what happened in Colorado last week.

“That was my comment when I got called to let us know he was in custody,” the sheriff said. “Hopefully …”

Smallbone was arrested on a previous fugitive warrant in Fort Collins last Wednesday, and appeared the next day in Magistrate Heather Siegel’s courtroom, where she gave him a personal recognizance bond.

Officials in Wyoming and Colorado who worked to track Smallbone down have expressed frustration with that situation.

Kylie Masserman, a spokesperson with the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office in Colorado, told Cowboy State Daily via an emailed statement on Monday that the court had the proper documentation to hold Smallbone.

“The District Attorney’s Office strongly believes that this bond setting is dangerous and has put the communities in both Colorado and Wyoming at risk,” she said. “Giving a free pass to dangerous out-of-state offenders fleeing to Colorado sets a terrible precedent and risks further harm to the victims in the Wyoming case.”

Now that he’s been caught again, Becker said he’s confident Smallbone will be returned to Wyoming to face his charges.

And there will be more of those to face, Converse County Deputy Attorney Nate Shumway said during Tuesday’s hearing.

He told the judge that his office has filed amended charges against Smallbone that include the 72 he already had been hit with, plus more that he’s since picked up.

Those amended charges weren’t immediately available through the district court following the hearing.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Charges"}]

The list of charges against Smallbone is long, including:

• 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).

He landed on the radar of the Converse County Sheriff’s Office after 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 Peech.

“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.

That, along with other alleged disturbing interactions with the girl at Smallbone’s home that evening, started an investigation that revealed a trove of photos, videos and other child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his electronic devices, the affidavit says.

The investigation also showed Smallbone had been convicted in 2002 of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust in Douglas County, Colorado.

He also had registered as a sex offender in Wyoming in 2014, but it was “later determined not to be required to register in Wyoming due to him being a juvenile at the time of his adjudication in Colorado,” according to the affidavit.

That was in reference to a 2001 case when Smallbone was 12 and was accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl, the affidavit says.

While in treatment for that incident, he disclosed he also had sexual contact with at least seven other children, and five were younger than him at the time of the sexual contact.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What Investigators Found"}]

The case against Smallbone exploded when forensic examinations were performed on his cellphone and electronic devices, according to the affidavit.

On them, 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 to connect them to alleged potential victims.

There also were videos of Smallbone having sex with an adult female, the affidavit says, adding that the woman told investigators she had no knowledge she was on camera.

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 having 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.

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.

Because of Smallbone’s apparent penchant for running from the charges, Sheriff Becker said his office was “very motivated” to catch him again.

“We’re concerned for the public,” he said. “Any of those types of investigations, the amount of time and work that goes into them is astounding.

[{"type":"text","text":"“And we really care about the kids in any of these types of crimes.”"}]

Smallbone San Fran 7 29 26

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Caught! Four Hours After Skipping Court, Accused Child Sex Abuser Arrested In Calif. | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Four hours after no-showing in court on 72 child sex and pornography charges in a Wyoming court on Tuesday, John C. Smallbone was caught in San Francisco. “We didn’t want a person with those types of charges to be out and about," said the sheriff.

Caught! Four Hours After Skipping Court, Accused Child Sex Abuser Arrested In Calif.

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

The copy of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s diary released this week shows the former White House COVID advisor fixating over the press, mentioning Wyoming's low vaccinations rates and praising former Rep. U.S. Liz Cheney for what Fauci called her courage in opposing the president. 

U.S. Sen Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, released the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director’s diary over the weekend in anticipation of a Wednesday hearing.

Fauci alternated fluidly between documenting death tolls and the “hot and heavy” coverage with which the press swarmed him. He documented his media features, interviews and appearances almost daily for months.

“The Fauci cult continues,” wrote Fauci in reference to August media reports.

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyoming features in the diary twice."}]

An April 10, 2020, entry documents calls with governors seeking Fauci’s guidance and to air their concern about the devastating economic fallout: “17 million jobs lost within the past 4 weeks.”

Even the massive infusion of federal relief dollars couldn’t spare the states, and some red-state governors urged counsel on how to get their people back to work safely, the entry says.

“Call with Gov. Mark Gordon of Wyoming – same discussion,” wrote Fauci. “What advice and counsel of returning to normal.”

“All these Governors are calling me because of my credibility and reputation to run their plans by me and ask for my opinion and help … message back to (the task force and president,” the director added.

A July 4, 2021, entry says Wyoming and other states had COVID surges due to lower vaccination rates. 

Former U.S. House Rep. Liz Cheney and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, appear multiple times in the diary.

Republicans and conservative news commentators started “blasting” Fauci for his shutdown policies on about May 13, 2020. So did Paul, in a May 12 Senate hearing.

[{"type":"text","text":"Julia Roberts mooned over Fauci that same week, the diary says."}]

“Dick Cheney called me to thank me for what I was doing and to say that he fully supported me,” wrote Fauci. “I acknowledged and thanked him and his daughter Liz for sticking up for me after the Senate Hearing yesterday.”

The former vice president was “muted in his criticism of Trump,” Fauci continued. “But he did agree that Trump was living in an alternative universe.”

Fauci wrote three days later that he told Vice President Mike Pence of how Cheney had called him into the White House 19 years prior to discuss the anthrax attacks.

[{"type":"text","text":"On Aug. 4, 2021, Dick Cheney called again, the diary says."}]

Cheney had had a heart transplant years prior and was on an immunosuppressive regimen, wrote Fauci.

“It is likely that his immune response two (sic) the vaccine is suboptimal.”

Cheney’s cardiologist recommended the former vice president call Fauci, the diary says.

“I made it very clear to Cheney that I strongly recommended he get the third boost of the mRNA since he is highly susceptible to getting infected if he comes into contact with an infected person,” Fauci wrote.

He added that they discussed “the courage of his daughter Liz Cheney and sticking up against the far right Republicans who want to whitewash the January 6th insurrection.”

Fauci voiced his appreciation “that she has been sticking up for me,” says the entry.

[{"type":"text","text":"What Wyoming's Pendley Remembers"}]

The diary also stunned a former Trump department head, who contrasted Fauci’s apparent fixation with media attention with the “traumatic” efforts others undertook to address COVID19.

William Perry Pendley, a Wyomingite who then led Trump’s U.S. Bureau of Land Management, criticized Fauci in a Monday post to X and a Tuesday interview with Cowboy State Daily.

“What struck me, and struck a lot of people on X, was just the contrast,” Pendley told Cowboy State Daily, “That while he’s getting over his celebrity status, hundreds of people at the Department of Interior are taking this very, very seriously, and regarding it as something from the White House saying this is a life-and-death matter. This is a national crisis.”

Pendley said with preparation, duration and follow-up directives, the meetings consumed two to three hours of each day. Interior leadership worried about the health of the roughly 70,000 employees under their umbrella, he said.

“While Fauci basked in the media's attention, I ran Trump's BLM & was on daily Zoom calls with Interior's number two official with scores of others,” wrote Pendley on X. “Untold hours by hundreds of employees were needed to prepare for & follow up on those needlessly traumatic meetings. Shame on him.”

Fauci’s diary also features his numerous concerns about deaths and sickness.

But first, Fauci opined in a Feb. 8, 2020, phone call that the virus was “acting like a bad influenza” and showed a case fatality rate of 0.2%-0.3%, his diary says.

The messaging was, “You’ve got to devote all your energy and skills to addressing this,” added Pendley in his interview.

[{"type":"text","text":"The ‘Hot And Heavy’ Press"}]

Entanglements and preoccupations with “press” that permeate nearly every entry.

“Press still hot and heavy about me,” says an April 7, 2020 entry. “Multiple stories per day directly or indirectly involving me.”

He documented the Fauci cartoons, Fauci underwear and other merchandise, news and book interviews, and the false claims and conspiracy theories about him that surfaced starting in 2020.

From about May through July 2020, Fauci documented numerous instances of complaining to White House personnel that he wasn’t placed in enough interviews, the diary shows.

Fauci also claimed embarrassment at receiving hugs and kisses from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and at President Donald Trump touting Fauci’s intelligence to First Lady Melania.

And he lamented where, according to him, the press got the story wrong in its fervor to pit him as a “foil” against Trump.

Mainstream media and columnists elevated Fauci for his calm demeanor and his willingness to contradict Trump starting in spring of 2020. Fauci had pushed for longer business and school closures, while Trump urged the director, who was part of the White House’s COVID19 task force, to find a way to reopen the nation by Easter.

“Continued crazy stuff: Petition to name me ‘Sexiest Man Alive,’” says an April 1, 2020 entry. “Videos (sic) games named after me; Fauci Bobblehead; dishes in redstaurants (sic) named after me, and on and on.”

In that same entry Fauci documented a “good conversation” with Bill Gates regarding the advanced development and scaleup of vaccines.

That later contrasted with what Fauci called White House response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx’s unfavorable view toward mRNA vaccines. Fauci cast her discomfort as a prejudice.

[{"type":"text","text":"Celebrities, Vaccines, And The Red States Reopening"}]

An April 29, 2020, entry details a Zoom call between Fauci and a “whole list of celebrities,” organized by Kim Kardashian.

That list featured Kate Hudson, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Chris Rock, Scooter Braun, Josh Gad, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Kendall Jenner, Ariana Grande, Paula Abdul, Demi Lovato, and Michael Jordan – to name a few.

Fauci noted the USA COVID case tally at 3 million that day and the death toll at 203,000.

Fauci urged repeatedly against letting the states “reopen” but when several did in mid-May, the virologist noted an interesting development.

“What is evolving is that states that are opening thus far are not seeing an increase in cases,” says a May 17, 2020, entry. “In fact, some are seeing decreases. We need another couple of weeks to se (sic) what is happening. Interesting that they might be paying attention more to mask use and social distancing as they open.”

But acute outbreaks still hit nursing homes, prisons, meatpacking plants and industries where workers lived in dormitory-like quarters, he wrote.

[{"type":"text","text":"“This is easily recognizable and quickly contained,” he wrote."}]

A June 25, 2020 entry says, “Contact tracing does not work.” He called contact tracing an abject failure.

He cast the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as incompetent – repeatedly across multiple entries.

He described an at-times affectionate, at-times icy relationship with Trump, almost always worsened by the press’s fervor in making Fauci a calm and well-informed anti-Trump figure.

A Feb. 12, 2020, entry has Fauci writing that World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

“depends greatly on China and often bows to them.”

Officials were at that time developing a WHO working group that lacked representation from China, Fauci wrote.

He detailed his friendship with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and helpful messaging by the latter’s news-commentator brother Chris Cuomo.

By March 29, the “CRAZY PRESS” wave had turned political, the diary says.

“The fringe far-right crazies are cooking conspiracy theories that I am a Hilary Clinton mole trying to destroy Trump,” says the entry. But at that time, “Trump continues to become more and more enamored of me.”

One media disaster culminated in Trump saying “his right wing base is causing a lot of trouble,” says an April 13, 2020, entry.

Regarding the vaccine development, a May 17, 2020, entry says “We are well into the process and I just do not want any person or organization or structure to get in my way.”

A June 15, 2020, entry questions why a Chinese study group had a mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection as early as August 2019.

“Why would they be doing that last summer??? They could have been studying SARS, but they already had mouse models,” says the entry. “Possible they just wanted to use a better technique… OR they knew that SARS-CoV-2 already existed and the outbreak was already ongoing.”

Regarding the dramatic press saga of Fauci vs. Trump, the entry says, “Most people (sic) expressing outrage that the trump administration woud (sic) be so bumbling and incompetent to try to discredit the most credible scientist in the world.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Rand Paul’s Focus"}]

In a “Tony’s Diary” cover page set in pink cursive font – like a teen girl’s diary – along with other mocking insignia, Paul detailed places where Fauci’s diary contradicts his public messaging.

When other professionals swapped theories about the virus’ origins in January 2020, Paul noted from the diary, the doctors had a sincere debate about whether the virus had natural or lab-leak origins.

“Before most Americans knew there was an origins debate, the government’s top infectious disease official was already confronting the lab scenario,” wrote Paul.

[{"type":"text","text":"Paul has long said the virus originated in a lab leak."}]

Fauci dismissed that theory publicly in 2020 in 2021 with the claim his critics “are really criticizing science because I represent science.” The lab leak theory has since garnered credibility.

“The fact that the lab in question had received a 2014 grant (through an intermediary) from NIAID for ‘gain of function’ research may help explain Fauci’s reluctance to come clean about the need to investigate,” opined the editors of The Free Press in a 

Fauci cheney 7 28 26

<title>Dr. Anthony Fauci's Diary Covers Wyoming’s Low Vax Rates, Liz Cheney’s ‘Courage’ | Cowboy State Daily</title>

In the more than 1,100 pages of Dr. Anthony Fauci's diary released over the weekend, he mentioned Wyoming’s low COVID vaccination rates, his admiration of Liz Cheney and his conversations with Dick Cheney. He appeared fixated on the "hot and heavy" press.

Dr. Anthony Fauci's Diary Covers Wyoming’s Low Vax Rates, Liz Cheney’s ‘Courage’

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Agriculture

Wyoming ranchers must accept that electronic ear tags for cattle are here to stay, Wyoming Livestock Board Director Steve True told lawmakers Tuesday. 

A hoped-for executive order from President Donald Trump rescinding the electronic tag requirement “didn’t happen,” he said.

The requirement for certain cattle to have electronic tags before they cross state lines out of Wyoming is still in place, True told legislators in Casper. 

He spoke before the Legislature’s Joint Agriculture, State and Public Lands, and Water Resources Committee. The committee took no action on the matter.

The electronic ID tag requirement for interstate cattle transport was finalized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Nov. 4, 2024, the day before Trump was elected to his second term.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Trump Rumor Squelched"}]

In recent years, there’s been pushback against the transition from metal ear tags for cattle to electronic ID tags, which can be instantly read with a scanner.

Some ranchers argue electronic tags are too expensive, at about $3 each. Metal ear tags cost 10 to 15 cents apiece.

Others worry data collected through the tags could lead to government intrusion.

There’s no indication the electronic ID tag (EID) rule will change, True said.

“I do want to nip one story in the bud that I’ve heard quite a bit, that President Trump was writing some executive orders that would repeal the EID rule,” he said. "Didn’t happen.

“So, you all can let that go, if you’re thinking that happened. Because it didn’t, and it’s probably not gonna, with the screwworm problem we’ve got going on.”

At least five cases of New World screwworm infections were confirmed earlier this year in domestic animals in Texas and New Mexico.

There are concern that infestations could spread to other states, including Wyoming.

And hunters worry that screwworm infestations could jump to deer and other wildlife.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Rule Requirements"}]

Electronic ID tags are required for several classes of cattle before they can be transported out of Wyoming, True said.

Some of those include breeding cattle, sexually intact cattle 18 months or older, exhibition cattle and dairy cattle.

It’s hoped that electronic tags can streamline the detection, tracking and containment of livestock diseases, such as brucellosis.

A tag signifies, for instance, that an animal has been vaccinated against brucellosis.

Wyoming got clearance from the USDA to carve out an exception, allowing ranchers to use metal ear tags to certify vaccination for brucellosis.

Ranchers can use either new yellow ear tags or leftover orange vaccination certification tags, True said.

Yellow tags can be purchased from manufacturers. The orange tags should be available until supplies run out, as production ceased after Nov. 4, 2024, he said.

However, those metal tags are good only within Wyoming state lines. Electronic tags will still be mandatory for animals within the required categories that cross state lines, he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Still Seems Unfair"}]

Marta Mossburg of Riverton told Cowboy State Daily she’s opposed to mandating electronic cattle tags.

She is a research fellow at the Mountain States Policy Center and in November 2024 published a guest column in Cowboy State Daily expressing her hope that then-President-elect Trump would scrap the electronic ID requirement.

Among other things, she expressed concern over government intrusion.

“With the heightened surveillance of tags will come the ability for the federal government to expand its reach into ranchers’ operations,” Mossburg wrote. "Knowing exactly how many cattle ranchers own means the ability to tax cows based on their greenhouse gas emissions, as has been enacted in Denmark, to start in 2030. It could also mean forced slaughter if, for example, the USDA decided that the number of head in a particular operation was adversely impacting federal lands or violating climate policy.” 

On Tuesday, she said electronic ear tags would be expensive and unnecessary for small ranches in Wyoming.

Larger ranches might find electronic tags more efficient than old-style metal tags, Mossburg said, but they should have the option of using them voluntarily, not through a government mandate,.

RFID tag 7 28 26

<title>No Trump Executive Order: Livestock Director Says Electronic Cattle Tags Here To Stay | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wyoming Livestock Board Director Steve True told state lawmakers in Casper on Tuesday that electronic ear tags for cattle are here to stay. A hoped-for executive order from President Trump rescinding the electronic tag requirement didn’t happen, he said.

No Trump Executive Order: Livestock Director Says Electronic Cattle Tags Here To Stay

DOUGLAS — Saying through his court-appointed public defender that he’s afraid for his life if he shows his face, a Converse County man facing 72 felony child sex and pornography charges failed to show up for his plea hearing Tuesday afternoon.

By no-showing his arraignment in Converse County District Court, John Charles Smallbone also forfeits the $250,000 cash someone posted on his behalf to get out of jail June 24. 

“I waited a couple more minutes (to begin the hearing), and your client is not here,” Judge F. Scott Peasley said to Smallbone’s public defender, Denny Harts.

“He has expressed fear for his life,” Harts responded as about 25 people gathered in the second-floor courtroom at the Converse County Justice Center. 

“I reassured him he would be safe, but he is not here,” Harts added.

Peasley then issued a new warrant for Smallbone’s arrest for missing his hearing, while Converse County Deputy Attorney Nathan Shumway said he had just filed new charges on top of the 72 Smallbone already faces.

Those new charges weren’t yet in the court system immediately after the hearing, which from start to finish took about three minutes.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"On The Run"}]

Already a wanted man, Smallbone should have already been in police custody and available for Tuesday’s arraignment, Shumway said.

The prosecutor referenced an incident in Colorado last week when a 

Fort Collins magistrate allowed Smallbone to walk out

 of the Larimer County Detention Center on his own recognizance instead of holding him on a fugitive warrant out of Wyoming.

“There were issues with executing our warrant in Colorado,” Shumway said, echoing the frustration Converse County Sheriff’s Office officials have expressed since Smallbone was released on Thursday.

Instead of having a man accused of committing dozens of illegal sex acts with kids in custody, “We’re out looking for him again,” Converse County Undersheriff Chris Walsh 

told Cowboy State Daily after Smallbone’s Colorado release.

 “And we’re going to find him again. The freedom clock on him is running out.”

Walsh said whatever snafu allowed a wanted man to be released didn’t happen on Converse County’s end of the transaction. He was just as surprised as everyone to learn Smallbone was released.

A Wyoming man facing 72 felony child sex charges was a no-show for his plea hearing Tuesday in Douglas. John Smallbone was released on his own recognizance by a Colorado court last week. Law enforcement officials are angered that he was set free.

Charles Lewallen Potter, 88