From staff reports

pnj.com

A jury found Escambia County Sheriff's Deputy Mark Gene Smith not guilty on all eight charges of battery and sexual battery to juveniles.

The 41-year-old Smith was on trial for five counts of battery and three counts of sexual battery to victims ages 16-17. Three teenage girls reported instances of abuse while visiting Smith in the summer of 2014. The incidents were reported through a child abuse hotline in February 2015.

Closing arguments concluded at about 6 p.m. The seven-member jury rendered their not-guilty verdicts after 10 p.m.

Ex-deputy found guilty of sex offenses

Smith, who has been on administrative leave from the Escambia County Sheriff's Office without pay, took the stand Thursday and answered questions from his attorney, Barry Beroset, and Assistant State Attorney Anne Patterson for nearly two hours. Smith claimed he never touched the teenagers inappropriately. His claim came after all three of the teenagers testified he performed acts of sexual battery on them.

"No way I would ever touch a child. It was complete fabrication," said Smith, who took the stand after his two teenage daughters denied any knowledge of sexual relations between their father and the alleged victims.

Patterson pressed Smith on each of the allegations against him. He denied each and repeatedly accused the alleged victims of conspiring against him with false accusations.

"They're lying, because I say so, is not an answer," Patterson said to the jury during her closing argument. "It's a self-serving, non-revealing position that accomplishes nothing," said Patterson, who cited specifics shared by the alleged victims who testified as being too details to be fabricated.

The "swinger" couple, Leah and Douglas Manning, are the mother and stepfather of two of the alleged victims. Smith admitted to having sexual relations with Leah in the spring of 2014 and participating in a threesome with the couple on one occasion.

Ex-deputy faces jury in sex case

Smith said Douglas consented to letting him have sex with Leah, formerly a nurse at the Escambia County Jail. Leah testified she was sexually active with other deputies, too, including Walter Michael Thomas.

In August, a jury unanimously convicted Thomas of three counts of “unlawful sexual activity with certain minors.” Thomas’ bond was revoked immediately following the verdict. The former deputy faces a maximum of 45 years in state prison and awaits sentencing.

The allegations against Thomas were that he and the Mannings joined in a "foursome" with a 16-year-old female victim during the fall of 2014.

Leah is awaiting trial in Escambia County Jail. She faces four counts of sexual assault over 12 under 18, two counts of failure to report child abuse, sexual battery on victim 16 or 17, and cruelty toward child by using or allowing child to engage in sex. Douglas is locked up in Escambia County Jail, too. He faces a slew of charges for sexual assault over 12 under 18, lewd or lascivious behavior to victim age 12-16, lewd or lascivious molestation and lewd, and lascivious conduct by an adult.

Smith claimed he ended his sexual relationship with Leah in June when his teenage daughters, who live with their mother and stepfather in Chesapeake, Virginia, visited him for the summer. Smith remained friends with the Mannings, though, and their daughters developed a friendship. The Smiths and Mannings vacationed together that summer at Vortex Spring in Ponce De Leon and Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

News Journal reporter Kevin Robinson contributed to this story.