Vicksburg man convicted on sexual battery, child pornography charge
Published 10:31 am Saturday, December 9, 2023
A Vicksburg man has been convicted of two counts of sexual battery and 10 counts of having child pornography after a trial in Warren County Circuit Court.
Ninth District Circuit Judge Toni Walker Terrett set sentencing for Carl deAnthony Smith for Jan. 4, 2024. District Attorney Ricky Smith said Carl Smith faces a sentence of life in prison on each sexual battery count and up to 40 years on each child pornography count.
Smith said the child pornography charge came after police found videos on Carl De Anthony Smith’s phone during an investigation into the shooting death of a 13-year-old girl with whom he was involved.
The girl, Smith said, was with Carl DeAnthony Smith when she was killed in a drive-by shooting.
“During that investigation, police officers asked to see his phone to see if there was any information regarding the murder on his phone,” Smith said.
He said when officers opened the phone they saw what they believed was child sexual abuse material. They closed the phone, got a search warrant for the phone and searched it, finding other explicit material.