Former Durango middle school teacher sentenced to 40 years in prison

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado recently announced that Benjamin Smith, 30, of Durango, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison, and a lifetime of supervision after pleading guilty to a count of production of child pornography, committed against 36 victims; a count of coercion and enticement of minors, committed against 11 minors; and a count of attempted coercion and enticement of minors, committed against eight minors. In total, the defendant admitted to victimizing 37 adolescent boys in the Durango area.

According to the plea agreement and facts established at sentencing, Smith, a former teacher at Escalante Middle School in Durango, posed as a 16-year-old female named “Kristin” on the social media service Snapchat under the username “MTNCHICK69.”

So disguised, he reached out to adolescent boys in the Durango area, engaged them in conversation, and sent them naked photos of a young girl. He asked his targets to reciprocate, often directing them to take specific pictures of their bodies. In total, Smith was charged with producing child pornography in this manner with 36 victims.

Smith also used the guise to attempt to lure the targeted adolescents into in-person sexual encounters. Smith used a disguise, props, and a structured protocol to convince the targeted adolescents that they were engaging in sexual acts with “Kristin.”

Smith engaged in sexual acts with 11 adolescents and took a substantial step to engage in sexual acts with eight other minors. Several of his victims were as young as 13 years old; one was 12 years old.

Several of the targeted adolescents had previously had Smith as a teacher at Escalante Middle School.

“Those who prey on children have no place in a civil society, and I am personally grateful that this abomination is off the streets and will no longer be able to hurt our young people,” said United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Peter McNeilly. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will aggressively target people who choose to commit crimes against children in Colorado, and we will make them face justice.”

United States District Judge Gordon Gallagher presided over the sentencing.