Casper Sex Offender Admits Sexually Abusing Young Girls; Faces 45-70 Years
A convicted sex offender accused of sexually abusing and grooming young girls to perform sex acts faces decades of prison time after entering guilty pleas Friday afternoon in Natrona County District Court.
Lenard William Smiley, 45, pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor and one count of third-degree sexual abuse of a minor. In exchange for his guilty pleas, the state agreed to dismiss four remaining charges.
The plea agreement calls for Smiley to spend 45-70 years in prison. However, Judge Catherine Wilking noted she has the authority to impose a harsher sentence should she decide the agreed upon sentence is too lenient.
If that happens, Smiley would be allowed to withdraw his guilty pleas and the case would be reset for trial. Smiley was previously required to register as a sex offender, having been convicted second-degree sexual abuse of a minor in Alaska in 2001.
His wife, 50-year-old Sonya Smiley, is also charged in the case. During her district court arraignment in February -- also before Wilking -- Smiley pleaded not guilty to five counts of third-degree sexual abuse of a minor and one count of accessory to second-degree sexual abuse of a minor before the fact.
She could face up to 95 years in prison if convicted on all charges. However, public defender Curtis Cheney told the court Friday he believes Sonya Smiley is working toward a plea agreement with prosecutors.
On behalf of his client, Cheney requested that the two be allowed to see each other should Sonya Smiley plead guilty.
Bond conditions for each of the Smileys specify they are to have no contact each other while their cases are underway. However, neither Smiley has posted bond, therefore the bond conditions do not apply.
Assistant District Attorney Brett Johnson responded by saying he doesn't believe the two should have contact.
Wilking told Cheney it is not within her purview to decide whether the Smileys may or may not have contact while in custody. That would be a matter for the Natrona County Detention Center to sort out, Wilking said.
Court documents say a victim’s parents told police in November that family friends — the Smileys — had sexually abused their daughter when the victim stayed with them on and off from May 2015 through May 2016.
The victim’s family and the Smileys met through a group that recreates pre-17th century European History, according to the affidavit. The girl reportedly knew Lenard Smiley was a convicted sex offender, but he would tell people that Alaska police framed him and the charges were false.
The Smileys allegedly bought the first victim gifts and invited her to stay with them. After several months, the Smileys reportedly told her that since they were doing all those nice things for her, she needed to do things for them.
According to charging documents, the Smileys told the victim to perform sex acts that were unbearably painful. At one point, she reportedly passed out and had to be taken to a hospital.
After interviewing the first victim, investigators spoke with another teenage victim who said Smiley made her model underwear and swimsuits.
The Smileys also allegedly made the victim wear a type of metal collar commonly used in sadomasochistic sex acts.
Court documents say the victim told police that the Smileys locked her inside their house at one point and would not let her call home.
An investigator writes in the affidavit that the actions were all part of “the grooming process,” which involves a sex offender gaining access to and control over child victims.
If effective, grooming can decrease the likelihood of the victim reporting abuse and gives the offender further opportunities to sexually abuse the victim, the detective wrote.
Officers arrested the Smileys in December.
Sonya Smiley allegedly told detectives she saw Lenard Smiley perform sex acts with the victim at least four times. She reportedly blamed the victim.