Florida Mom Traced Nude Photos on Son's Phone to Jailed Youth Pastor

Star News
December 8, 2016

http://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20161207/florida-mom-traced-nude-photos-on-sons-phone-to-jailed-youth-pastor

After determining the man in the nude photo looked like the man on Facebook, the woman called Harbor United Methodist Church in Masonboro and spoke with the Rev. Russ Nanney. At the time Tyler Smither's cellphone number was listed as his contact information on the church's website.

By F.T. Norton StarNews Staff

NEW HANOVER COUNTY -- A savvy Florida mother who found nude photos of an adult male on her preteen son’s cellphone, traced the sender’s phone number back to New Hanover County youth pastor Tyler Simkus Smither, court documents revealed Wednesday.

An affidavit seeking a search warrant filed Tuesday in New Hanover County Superior Court state’s the mother, who had a parental control option on her 11-year-old son’s cellphone, was notified by Verizon that an unknown number was contacting her child. When the mother searched the phone number on Facebook, she found it was linked to Smither's page, according to the document.

After determining the man in the nude photo looked like the man on Facebook, the woman called Harbor United Methodist Church in Masonboro and spoke with the Rev. Russ Nanney. At the time Smither's cellphone number was listed as his contact information on the church's website.

Nanney then called the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.

Smither, 30, is charged with two counts of indecent liberties with a child. He was arrested Dec. 2 and posted a $100,000 bond the same day, according to New Hanover County jail records.