OAKLAND COUNTY - A former Royal Oak police cop was sentenced
to one year in prison for the child pornography found on his home computer.
Michael Stephen Smith, 41, was sentenced Wednesday in
Oakland County Circuit court.
Smith, who lived in Holly, worked as a police cop for Royal
Oak until he was fired in January 2012.
Michigan's Attorney General Bill Schuette charged Smith with
20 counts related to the pornography.
Schuette said from September 2011 through January 2012,
Smith downloaded and possessed pornography on his home computer.
The images were discovered through an online investigation
by the Flint internet crimes against children task force (ICA), which uses
sophisticated technology to identify online child pornography in Michigan.
Smith was also charged for sending images to other users through a public
internet file-sharing network.
In addition to the jail time, Judge James Alexander also
ordered Smith to attend sex-addict anonymous meetings, along with 5 years of
probation.