On Thursday, May 17, 2018, KYLE LEE SMITH, d/o/b 10-27-1987, of Branson, was sentenced to five (5) years in prison for two (2) counts of statutory rape in the second degree, consecutive to a federal sentence, in the Circuit Court of Taney County, Missouri. In February, Smith appeared in custody before Associate Circuit Court Judge Eric Eighmy and admitted to having sexual intercourse in the summer of 2015 with two (2) underage girls on separate occasions. On Thursday, Judge Eighmy heard sentencing arguments from Smith’s attorney and from Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Shana Mora, of the Taney County Prosecutor’s Office, before he ordered Smith to serve his prison sentence for the State of Missouri consecutive to his current federal sentence of fifteen (15) years.

The victims disclosed that in the summer of 2015 Smith engaged in sexual intercourse with them at his home in Branson – and each girl disclosed separate incidents. Smith was interviewed by an investigator and denied the allegations. DNA was discovered on an item of clothing belonging to one victim through the course of the investigation, and was found by criminalists at the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab to be semen – consistent with the DNA profile of Kyle Lee Smith. Smith is a former teacher at an Arkansas high school.