A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Indiana could not say this week who was arrested because the case files are sealed, but court records from the 2002 case reveal an extensive investigation involving Smith, her ex-husband Eric Smith and their 11 children.
Eric B. Smith, then of New Paris, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in 2005 for sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors. According to Federal Bureau of Prisons records, he was released from prison in 2010.
The FBI has declined to say whether the Richmond search has any connection to Eric Smith’s case.
The couple ran a computer and photography business out of their New Paris home at the time of that initial investigation.
Donna Smith allegedly failed to notify authorities that her then-husband had used a hidden camera to record a 16-year-old girl showering in their bathroom. She was not criminally prosecuted because she agreed to cooperate with the investigation, according to court records.
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