Bail amounts exceed $1 million total for a New Boston, Texas, man accused of various crimes in connection with the alleged sexual abuse of a teen girl.
Robert Allen Smith, 34, was charged with sexual assault of a child at the time of his first arrest in February 2018. At that time, bail was set at $100,000 and Smith was able to get out of jail with the help of a commercial bail bondsman.
A Bowie County grand jury indicted Smith on Jan. 10 for two counts of sexual assault of a child, a count of continuous trafficking of persons and a count of possession of child pornography. Bail on the trafficking and pornography charges was set at $500,000 on each count by Bowie County Justice of the Peace Nancy Talley. Smith remains in custody.
The abuse allegedly occurred while the girl was 15 to 17 years old.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Smith would send the girl a text message telling her to take a shower when he wanted to sexually abuse her. The girl told authorities that Smith would come in the bathroom and sexually abuse her.
The girl described being sexually assaulted and sodomized and alleged that Smith would ask that she urinate on his face. The girl allegedly told a forensic interviewer at the Texarkana Children’s Advocacy Center that Smith took nude photos of her in the bathroom of her mother’s home with a drone that he held in one hand while working the controls with the other.
The girl reported that Smith traveled with her across state lines during a summer while he was working as a commercial truck driver and that he sexually abused her in various locations during the trip. Images depicting the sexual exploitation of children were allegedly found after Smith’s electronic devices were seized by law enforcement.
If convicted of child pornography possession, Smith faces two to 10 years in prison. If convicted of sexual assault of a child, Smith faces two to 10 years on each of two counts. If found guilty of trafficking, Smith faces 25 to 99 years or life in prison.
There is no parole eligibility from a sentence for human trafficking in Texas. Smith must serve the entire amount of any sentence he receives.
The case is assigned to 202nd District Judge John Tidwell. First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp and Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards are prosecuting. Smith is represented by the Bowie County Public Defenders Office.
A date for Smith to appear before Tidwell for arraignment on the charges has not been scheduled.
