CEDAR CITY, Utah — An employee at Southern Utah University was arrested Monday after police said they found child pornography on his home computer.
Cedar City Police said they obtained a search warrant for 53-year-old Eli Wendell Smith's electronic devices. Officials said Smith agreed to turn on his computer, upon which the officers said the background image was a nude girl, who they estimated to be between 10-12 years old. They asked him about the image, and he said he knew she was underage and guessed she was around 15 or 16.
Smith then admitted to officers that he had between 50-100 pornographic images of children on his computer, according to court documents. He also reportedly admitted to viewing child porn as recently as one day prior.
In Smith's arrest report, officers wrote that he works in groundskeeping and facilities maintenance at SUU. They also said he often travels to away games with the women's soccer and softball teams, and he has access to their facilities and equipment.
"I believe Eli poses a danger to these women given specific nature of the pornographic material he views and his unique relationship with the teams," the probable cause statement read, following the arresting officers' request that he be denied bail.
Smith was booked Monday in the Iron County Jail. Then on Tuesday, he was officially charged with one felony count of sexual exploitation of a minor. A judge ordered that he be held without bail.
