Prominence not enough for police to publicly report
By JEREMY APPEL on November 26, 2019.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel The June arrest of Wayne Smith on child pornography charges wasn’t publicized at the time because he didn’t work in a position of trust with kids, according to an ALERT spokesperson. Smith, 65, the former executive director of the City Centre Development Agency from 2012-2016, was arrested in June for accessing and possessing child pornography in relation to an incident that allegedly occurred Nov. 15, 2018. Mike Tucker, ALERT’s Edmonton-based spokesperson, told the News that “a variety of factors” determine whether police put out a news release after arresting an alleged sex offender, regardless of whether they had a public profile or not. “First and foremost is the impact to public safety,” he said. “What I mean by that is if we believe there are additional victims … or someone is in jeopardy that we have to alert the public to.” This wasn’t the case for the allegations against Smith. “We weren’t looking to solicit any additional information. We didn’t have any reason to believe children were being offended on, nor were we looking for other witnesses,” said Tucker. Smith also hadn’t worked for the CCDA for more than three years when arrested, so he wasn’t considered a public figure. “I don’t think that that name or that position resonated necessarily,” he said. “The concerning factor is not so much public figure, but person in a position of trust or authority. Do they have access to children by nature of their employment?” It’s a “delicate balance,” Tucker says of publicly identifying somebody who’s been charged with child porn. “Does the public necessarily have a right to know based on a person’s social status, whether that’s related to the crime or not?” he asked. “Each of those situations has to be evaluated independently.” Tucker says Smith was brought to ALERT’s attention after being flagged by the RCMP’s national child exploitation unit, who got in touch with its provincial counterpart after receiving information that an IP address in Medicine Hat had uploaded child pornography. “There’s a national oversight body – the RCMP’s NCECC. They have a relationship with internet service providers and social media companies, who’ve developed technology to detect child pornography that is being traded,” he explained. “The reality is we know little about who that person is. Oftentimes, we don’t have a name, we have an IP address.” Correction The Nov. 23 story, “Former CCDA head faces child porn charges” incorrectly said Wayne Smith got into an altercation with a local video blogger after he was relieved of his duties at the CCDA. In fact, the altercation occurred prior to his departure. 17-16
