A Kona jury found 32 year-old Micaiah Smith of Kailua-Kona guilty as charged to Electronic Enticement of a Child in the First Degree and Attempted Promoting Pornography for Minors as a part of Operation Keiki Shield which took place between March 31, 2023 and April 2, 2023.
After reading the jury’s guilty verdict, prosecutors requested that Smith, who was previously released on $15,000.00 bail, have his bail revoked and that he be taken into custody. The Court denied the request and ordered Smith to return for sentencing on June 24, 2024.
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Smith exchanged text messages and sent pictures of his genitals to an undercover police officer, whom Smith believed to be a 15 year-old girl. Electronic Enticement of a Child in the First Degree is a Class B felony offense which carries a penalty of a ten-year prison term without the possibility of probation and mandates registration as a sex offender. Attempted Promoting Pornography for Minors is a class C felony offense which carries a maximum penalty of a five-year prison term.
Operation Keiki Shield, which is a state-federal-local collaborative initiative focused on identifying and arresting offenders who commit internet-facilitated sex crimes against minors and rescuing victims of child sexual exploitation and abuse, included members of numerous law enforcement agencies, including the Hawai‘i Police Department (“HPD”), Hawai‘i County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Department of the Attorney General, Internet Crimes Against Children’s (“ICAC”) Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Honolulu Police Department, and the Maui Police Department (“MPD”).
The case was led by Acting Lieutenant Brandon Mansur, Area II Community Policing formerly of the Hawaiʻi County Police Department’s Juvenile Aid Section and Detective John Surina, MPD. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Annaliese Wolf and Matthew Woodward.
Photo credit: Hawaiʻi County Prosecuting Attorney