St. Pete man accused of watching porn with child, recording victim
Booking image for William Edward Smith
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A St. Petersburg man was arrested after the victim’s father found several videos on his computer containing imagery of his child partially nude. Detectives also said the suspect watched porn with the child.
Pinellas County detectives said 65-year-old William Edward Smith recorded the victim at his home on 58th Avenue North. Deputies responded to Smith’s home after the child’s father reported to the sheriff’s office that Smith was watching porn with the victim.
Deputies said the victim is under the age of 12.
The father confronted Smith about the pornography and looked at his computer, where he found videos of the nearly nude victim using Smith’s bathroom, according to the sheriff’s office.
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When investigators spoke to Smith, they said he admitted to setting up a manually-activated hidden camera to record the victim using the bathroom.
Deputies said when Smith learned they were going to interview him, he began deleting videos from his computer. They said he admitted to watching porn with the child on five separate occasions.
Smith was arrested on several charges including video voyeurism, tampering with evidence, and failure to protect a minor.