East St. Louis man guilty of taking explicit photos of 15-year-old, witness tampering

A jury in the U.S. Federal Court for the Southern District of Illinois on Wednesday found an East St. Louis man guilty of producing child pornography and attempting to influence a witness’ testimony before trial.

According to the indictment, Avery Smartt, 43, engaged in a months-long sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl beginning in September 2016. Smartt, a truck driver, took the girl on several out-of-state trips, including a drive from Illinois to California, according to the federal court.

The underaged victim testified that Smartt took sexually explicit photographs of her while on these trips. The FBI seized Smartt’s phone and discovered the images. A DNA test also showed that Smartt fathered a child with the girl, according to a release from the court.

While he we was being held in the Clinton County Jail awaiting trial, Smartt sent letters to friends and family members asking them to encourage the girl to change her testimony, which led to the witness tampering charge, the release stated.

Smartt faces 15 to 30 years in federal prison on the pornography charge and an additional 20 for attempts to tamper with the victim’s testimony. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2021 at the federal courthouse in East St. Louis.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the Illinois State Police Metro-East Crime Laboratory, the Alton Police Department, and the East St. Louis Police Department.

This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 8:05 PM.