# United States Court of Appeals **For the Eighth Circuit**

___________________________ No. 13-1024

___________________________ United States of America lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee

v. Todd Christopher Smith lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant

____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Joplin

____________ Submitted: August 30, 2013 Filed: September 5, 2013 [Unpublished]

____________ Before WOLLMAN, GRUENDER, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.

____________ PER CURIAM. Todd Smith appeals the district court’s 1 judgment entered after a jury found him guilty of sexual exploitation of a minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C . § 2251(a) and (e).

1 The Honorable Richard E. Dorr, late a United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri.The district court sentenced him to life in prison. Smith’s counsel has moved to withdraw and filed a brief under Anders v. California , 386 U.S. 738 (1967), raising claims that insufficient evidence supported th e conviction; that the conviction violated Smith’s rights under the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause; that enactment of section 2251 exceeded Congress’s authority under the Commerce Clause; and that the court erred in sentencing Smith to life in pris on. In his pro se brief, Smith also raises the Commerce Clause argument, and argues further that the district court did not have jurisdiction because 18 U.S.C. § 3231 was not validly enacted, and that counsel was ineffective for not moving to suppress the search of his cell phone. We hold that the evidence was sufficient, particularly becau se Smith admitted to the elements of the crime at trial. See United States v. Coutentos , 651 F.3d 809, 823 (8th Cir. 2011) (elements of crime); United States v. Birdine , 515 F.3d 842, 844 (8th Cir. 2008) (standard of re view). We reject the Firs t Amendment argument, as the statute is neutral and the Supreme Court has recognized the government’s compelling interest in protecting children from abuse, seeChurch of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah , 508 U.S. 520, 531 (1993) (neutral a nd generally applicable statute need not be justified by compelling government interest even if it incidentally burdens particular religious practice); Osborne v. Ohio , 495 U.S. 103, 109 (1990) (interest in safeguarding physical and psychological well- being of minors is compelling); and we have previously rejected th e claim that the statute viol ates the Commer ce Clause, see United States v. Fadl , 498 F.3d 862, 866 (8th Cir. 2007). We find no error in Smith’s sentence, which was within the properl y calculated Guidelines range. SeeUnited States v. Young , 644 F.3d 757, 762 (8th Cir. 2011) (this court reviews substantive reasonableness of sentence under deferential abuse-of-discretion standard and may apply presumption of reasonableness to se ntence within Guidelines range); United States v. Feemster , 572 F.3d 455, 460-61 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (appellate court’s review of sentence for abuse of discreti on includes ensuring no significant procedural error occured, and considering subs tantive reasonableness under totality of circumstances).
-2-As to Smith’s remaining pro se arguments , we conclude that the jurisdictional argument is meritless, seeUnited States v. Romero-Galue , 757 F.2d 1147, 1150 n.10 (11th Cir. 1985) (district court “obviously had subject matter jurisdiction” because Congress, pursuant to § 3231, “conferred upon the federal district courts the power to adjudicate all cases involving crimes agains t the United States”), and we decline to consider on direct appeal his in effective-assistance claim, seeUnited States v. Looking Cloud , 419 F.3d 781, 788-89 (8th Cir. 2005) (ineffective-assistance claims are better raised in habeas proceedings). After reviewing the record i ndependently under Penson v. Ohio , 488 U.S. 75 (1988), we have found no nonfrivolous issues for appeal. Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed. We also grant counsel’s mo tion to withdraw, and deny Smith’s appellate motions.

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