CLEARFIELD – A victim of abuse confronted her abuser by repeatedly telling him to “look me in the eye!” as she read her victim impact statement, prior to his sentencing on Monday.
Timothy Robert Smeal, 35, of Morrisdale, pleaded guilty to 20 felony counts of possession of child pornography, nine felony counts of criminal attempt/child pornography, 20 misdemeanor counts of design/copy obscene material-depicting minor and 20 misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy.
Before he was sentenced by Judge Paul E. Cherry, his victim showed her independence and power by starting her statement with “look me in the eye” as she said “you single handedly ruined my life.”
She noted that Smeal lied to her family members about what happened so that they believed she was the liar, turning them against her.
She spoke of his selfishness, and if he looked away, she quickly said “look me in the eye” again and toward the end of her speech said “Do you think I’m done?! Look at me!”
She listed other problems she had with Smeal while living with him. He limited her use of water, used an oven for heat, and both she and her sister had to walk to school because he did not have a working vehicle.
“I am not sure why you are not charged with child endangerment.”
She finished with “I hope you rot in jail” and “You thought you were smart. You are not!”
Before she spoke, another family member read a statement from the victim’s sister that said Smeal had affected her mental health. She lived in fear she would see him again, or that he would come to take them with him.
Another family member addressed the court saying Smeal was “the spawn of the devil himself”. She stated that Smeal accused the victim of planting evidence and only after he was offered an “extremely lenient” plea deal did he agree to plead guilty. She asked Cherry to give him the maximum sentence.
A third family member stated that the victim is afraid to be alone with any man because she is frightened that the man might be watching her.
“You did that!”
He pointed out that now Smeal will be the one being watched in prison.
“Men like you don’t deserve to be rehabilitated,” he said.
Although they have been through a lot and have gone to therapy, he stated that these “two broken little girls have grown into wonderful women.”
He promised to fight for them.
“Every time you are up for parole, you will see my face.”
Cherry asked Smeal if he wanted to say anything and he started to apologize, before Cherry instructed him to turn around and apologize to the victims and their family, which he did.
Cherry sentenced Smeal to a total of five to 40 years in state prison with 12 months re-entry probation. Smeal must complete sex offender counseling and is to have no contact with the victims or unsupervised contact with any female under the age of 18.
Deputy District Attorney Tami Fees told Cherry that Smeal had been evaluated by a member of the Sex Offender Board, but it was determined he did not meet the criteria to be classified as a sexually violent predator. Due to the charges, he will still need to register with authorities under Megan’s Law.
The criminal complaint details how the investigation began in May 2024 after the juvenile girl reported to authorities that Smeal was recording her actions in the privacy of her bedroom.
She told police Smeal asked her to try on a coconut bra at her residence in Cooper Township. While in her bedroom, she felt as if she was being watched and became uncomfortable trying on the bra. She then heard a noise, and noticed a cell phone hidden among her stuffed animals.
As she walked toward the phone, Smeal walked into the room and grabbed the phone. She then told him she was not comfortable trying on the bra and gave it back to him.
According to the affidavit, she talked to police on May 13, 2024 because that morning, she spotted another cell phone hidden in a pocket folder with a cut out made in it. She decided not to disturb it and left for school. She stated that the phones were in position to capture her while she was changing clothes or was nude. She added that Smeal had given her swimsuits to try on at various other times.
Police applied for and received a search warrant for Smeal’s home where 17 different devices were seized. This included 16 cell phones and a tablet. All of these were sent for data extraction.
Investigators uncovered the video from the coconut bra incident which was as the juvenile had described, confirming her story. Several other images of the girl topless or changing her clothes were reportedly also found.
The videos included footage of Smeal placing the cameras in the room with “anticipation of an act/task being performed” and later him picking them up after she left the room. Photos of the girl appear to have been taken from these videos.
In addition, they found screenshots of other local girls.
“These images were cropped/altered by superimposing their faces onto the face of another female’s nude body,” it says in the affidavit.
