Cop accused of sexually assaulting 2-year-old

Sarah Hagen | WTSP-TV, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.

Show Caption Hide Caption Police officer accused of sexual assault of 2-year-old A Florida police officer on the force for 9 years has been arrested and accused of distributing sexual pictures of a child on social media. The victim is just 2 years old.

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — A police officer for a small town in Florida has been accused of sexually assaulting a 2-year-old, authorities said Thursday.

Joshua Smith, 32, of Lakeland, Fla., was arrested late Wednesday on one count of directing and promoting the sexual performance of a child — a child pornography charge — but more charges are pending. Detectives are analyzing Smith's computer devices and his cellphone.

Smith started an online conversation with an undercover FBI agent under the pseudonym of James King at 10:17 a.m. ET, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, calling himself a "no limit perv" who was looking for someone like minded to talk to. He then sent three sexually explicit pictures to the agent to prove that he had a live child.

"It is appalling and outrageous to all law enforcement who worked this case and will outrage others around the country," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a Thursday press conference. "The communication is so horrific, so graphic, so outrageous, that a normal person would never be able to comprehend."

Smith told the FBI agent that he began the abuse six months ago and that his wife had no idea, according to his arrest report. By 5:45 p.m., investigators said they had determined where the messages originated and were at his door to take him into custody.

The girl was home alone with him, still wearing the clothes in the pictures that agents had received. She is now with her mother, deputies said.

Smith has been a police officer for the past nine years in Oakland, Fla., a town of about 2,500 residents 15 miles west of Orlando. He has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of his case, according to Oakland Chief Steven R. Thomas.

He is being held in a Polk County jail on $150,000 bond.