Smith County ESD employee faces child pornography charge
Published 5:33 pm Friday, December 6, 2019
- Silas Franks
An employee of Smith County Emergency Services District No. 2 was arrested Friday on a child pornography charge.
Silas Franks, 25, of Terrell, was booked into the Smith County Jail on the charge of possession or promotion of child pornography, and a $250,000 bond was set, according to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office.
Smith County investigators presented an arrest affidavit to 7th District Court Judge Kerry Russell and he issued a warrant for Franks’ arrest, according to a news release.
Smith County Sheriff’s Office investigators received information Oct. 8 from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about a possible child pornography case, the release stated.
According to NCMEC, there were numerous photos of child pornography depicting victims of a very young age.
The investigators got subpoenas for social media sites as well as cellphone and internet providers. With the information from the subpoenas, they identified Franks as the suspect.
Franks was using the IP address (Wi-Fi) of the Red Springs Fire Department while working, according to the sheriff’s office.
Authorities discovered Franks received several thousand photos and chat logs of a sexual nature from Snapchat, which depicted images of child pornography of very young victims, according to the sheriff’s office.
Members of the Smith County Emergency Services District No. 2 were fully cooperative with the sheriff’s office and the investigation is ongoing and multijurisdictional, the release stated.