Scott Smith

Scott's Riverside mugshot

**Scott Allen Smith** is a suspected predator featured in the Riverside, California edition of **To Catch a Predator**.

## Chat

Colleen Tharme, a volunteer for Perverted Justice, created a decoy account called "dark\_dana\_666" on Yahoo, where she posed as a 13-year-old girl named "Dana." On January 7, 2006, Tharme visited a local Yahoo chat room under the guise of Dana. At that point, there were at least 20 people in the chat room. The chat room's only restriction was that it was only for residents of California and that it was neither an adult nor an X-rated chat room. Smith contacted her under the alias "uncommansense2." He lied to the girl about his age, saying he was 34 when he was actually 39. Smith claimed that while he did not believe that an individual's age affected their ability to engage in sex, the police did. He informed the decoy that police were posing as children online interested in sex. Then Smith said that he had been caught talking with a separate Perverted Justice decoy who was impersonating a 14-year-old girl. He claimed to have received an email after having his screen name added to a "perv list." Smith insisted that he avoided discussing sex with the 14-year-old decoy. The conversation quickly turned to sex after that, with Smith asking "Dana" if she had ever engaged in sex. After the decoy said she had sex with a 19-year-old man, Smith replied, "Well the next time u do just let them go down on u and only use their finger."

Smith offered that they may have a "mom and daughter thing" after the decoy revealed that she resided with her parents. The decoy then said she could call him Tharme made contact with Tracy Grygiel, a phone verifier for Perverted Justice, who would call the number Smith gave her. When Smith answered the phone, he first introduced himself as "Dano," then as "Riverside Police," and finally as "Scott," before clarifying that he was only kidding. Smith, according to Grygiel, "bragged about having another 15-year-old girl who really liked him" during their brief talk. Grygiel was not permitted to set up meetings, thus she did not do so despite Smith's request for an immediate meeting. Later in the chat, he boasted about getting his penis pierced three times to the decoy and shows her a picture of it. Smith suggested, "keep me warm if u had to" and mentioned "licking u from top to bottom and from front to back kissing u all over rubbing every inch of ur body." Smith expressed a desire to engage in oral sex and made a commitment to refrain from engaging in vaginal intercourse; rather, he wished to use only his fingers and tongue to penetrate the girl's buttock. The dummy was then asked to sit on his face at his request. After setting up a meeting, the two talked sexually once more.

## Interview with Chris Hansen

Smith came in a moving truck to the sting house after driving over 101 miles. Smith followed Dana's instructions and headed down the walkway to the back of the house. He carried a six pack of grape-flavored Smirnoff Ice into the house. Chris Hansen then confronted the man. Smith insisted that he had never groomed a minor before. He pinned the blame on the decoy, stating that she kept talking about sex when he just wanted to come over and talk to her. Smith maintained that he had brought the alcohol for the girl's mother when he was questioned about it. Chris instantly refuted the lie and professed to have the transcripts.

Smith claimed that he was merely having a "conversation" as Chris continued to read from the chat log. Smith then acknowledged that a month before to showing up at the sting house, he was caught communicating with another Perverted Justice operative who was posing as a child. He stated he was merely conversing and hadn't used any sexually explicit words. In addition, he admitted sending a picture of his face and a penis to "Dana" while claiming it wasn't his. Then Smith cited "roleplay" as an explanation, saying that anyone could appear to be someone they're not online and that he wasn't the type of person searching for sex with a girl. He said that "curiosity got the best of him." When Scott was exposed on NBC by Chris, he fled from the house and was arrested by police.

## Police interview

After informing Smith of his rights and securing his waiver of them, investigator Gary Bowen questioned him. Smith acknowledged that he had an online conversation with a girl he thought was 13 years old. He insisted that it was "all talk" and that hadn't had sex with her at all. Smith then admitted that he was at the house to perform oral copulation on the girl and to insert his fingers into her buttocks.

### Aftermath

Smith was charged with a felony count of attempted lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age, a felony count of attempted oral copulation with a minor under 14 years of age and more than a 10-year age difference between victim and offender, and a misdemeanor count of possession of methamphetamine. His bail was set at $50,000.

Smith wouldn't be present for any of his hearings. The trial court in Smith's case rejected his request to instruct the jury on entrapment for two reasons: first, there was no evidence that Perverted Justice acted as an agent of law enforcement; second, even if it had, there was no proof that Tharme persuaded him to do something he would not have done. When his trial eventually started in the spring of 2009, the defence contended that law enforcement agents had planted the methamphetamine found in a vial found on Smith's keychain. When the jury was unable to reach a verdict, the court dismissed that charge. However, in 2010, he was found guilty on both felony counts against him. He was sentenced to one year and six months in state prison and lifetime registration as a sex offender.

In 2010, Smith filed an appeal stating that the prosecutor engaged in prejudicial misconduct during the closing argument, the trial court improperly admitted evidence about the number of people caught in the sting operation and contended that the trial court's decision to deny the jury instruction on the defence of entrapment was a reversible error because his attorney failed to object to the prosecutor's purported misconduct. The jury instruction on reasonable doubt asks the jury to consider evidence that was not presented at trial and is, therefore, incorrect; the cumulative effect of the errors is prejudicial; and the commission of the charged crimes is not supported by the evidence to the extent that the jury inferred that the defendant engaged in an action that was a direct step toward the commission of the offence. Smith's allegations were rejected by the court as being without merit. As a result, they upheld his conviction. Smith became homeless following his conviction, and his current whereabouts and activities are unknown.

## 2023 update

According to Smiths RSO profile he is no longer homeless and is still living in California.

Most recent photo on the California RSO, however it is undated.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 https://www.leagle.com/decision/incaco20100617059
2. ↑ http://www.perverted-justice.com/booking/bookingcollage.html
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 http://www.perverted-justice.com/?con=uncommansense2
4. ↑ https://meganslaw.ca.gov/OffenderDisplay.aspx?searchby=offender&ID=18609148M9031&NSOPRFlag=True&x=865412b4-1254-42af-b244-ae266b46f10e
5. ↑ https://dairystatedegenerates.blogspot.com/2020/11/to-catch-predator-update-riverside-part.html