Preliminary hearing scheduled for Nibley man suspected of sexting teen girl

Booking photo for Nicholas L. Smith (Courtesy: Cache County Jail).

LOGAN — A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for a 34-year-old Nibley man accused of sexting a teenage girl and other crimes. Nicholas L. Smith was originally arrested almost two years ago, when family members found “disturbing text messages on his phone.

Smith appeared in 1st District Court Tuesday morning. He’s been charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of enticing a minor over the internet, all second-degree felonies. He also faces three charges of distribution of pornography and one charge of soliciting or distributing child pornography, all third-degree felonies.

Defense attorney Ray Malouf asked the court for the preliminary hearing, where prosecutors will present their evidence and a judge will determine whether to bind Smith over for trial. He had previously requested the defendant’s case to be transferred to Mental Health Court, a weekly program that is supervised by a judge. That request was denied because of the severity of the charges.

Deputies allege that Smith recorded himself having sex with people multiple times in Nibley and also Logan Canyon. The victims claimed they did not know they were being filmed. Some of the videos may have also involved minors. The crimes are believed to have occurred between 2012 and 2017.

One of the people Smith allegedly sexted with was an underage girl, who lives in England. They reportedly had a relationship for more than five years that started when the girl was 12-years-old.

During Tuesday’s court appearance, Judge Brian Cannell scheduled the preliminary hearing for February 6.

Smith did not speak during Tuesday’s appearance. He is currently out of jail after posting $25,000 bail and could face up to 15-years in prison if convicted.


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