Smith gets 124 years for sexually abusing his adopted daughter

Smith gets 124 years for sexually abusing his adopted daughter

By John Harbin

Times-News Writer

A Transylvania County man was sentenced to spend a minimum of 124 years in prison Tuesday after being convicted of 15 sexual abuse crimes against a minor.

Edward Walter Smith, 65, was charged with 15 counts of sexual abuse crimes against a minor, his adopted daughter, now 22.

"We are pleased with the outcome," Assistant District Attorney Doug Mundy said Tuesday afternoon. "We are pleased for [the victim] and happy that she can now put this behind her."

"I wasn't a very good father," Edward Smith said before his sentence was handed down by Superior Court Judge Marlene Hyatt. "I was wrong at certain things. I am ashamed, but I didn't deny it. When I came to court I told the truth. I know where my salvation is. I am hoping that [she] can forgive me."

Smith's adopted daughter took the stand Tuesday. She had a somber look on her face as the jurors filed in Tuesday morning.

When asked if she wanted child support from Smith for the child she bore from him, Smith's adopted daughter said, "I don't want anything from him. I don't ever want to see him again."

Former Transylvania County Sheriff's Office Detective Rita Smith interviewed Edward Smith in 2005 after his adopted daughter made a report about the sexual abuse she had endured.

"[She] came to the sheriff's office and told me that she was adopted by Mr. Smith and the sex began quickly after the adoption in Florida," Rita Smith testified. "She had a baby on July 4, 2000, in Brevard and Mr. Smith continued to have sex with her."

Rita Smith told the court that Edward Smith told her in an interview that he began having sex with his adopted daughter when she was 13 years old.

In addition to confessing his crimes to Rita Smith, Edward Smith also confessed to the sexual abuse during a civil hearing in Transylvania County in 2005.

"What stood out about this hearing to you?" Assistant District Attorney Doug Pearson asked Transylvania County Court Clerk Christy Brown.

"It was not everyday that someone gets on the stand and says what he said," Brown testified. "You do not always have someone admitting to things."

In his closing arguments, Mundy explained how the evidence had not been refuted by the defense.

"You have heard testimony by [the victim], by Det. Smith and you have heard what the defendant said out of his own mouth in another court hearing," Mundy said.

Edward Smith's attorney, Mack McKeller, said that testimony was too vague to convict his client.

"You must hold the state to its burden of proof," McKeller told the jury during closing arguments. "What the state wants you to do is find my client guilty because this crime is disgusting. I am asking you to set that aside and hold the state to its burden."

Smith was arrested in Transylvania County in 2006 and later indicted on the charges that stemmed from sexual abuse crimes against his adopted daughter dating back to the year 2000.