Mother of Child Porn Victim "Never Saw Any Signs"

Mother of Child Porn Victim "Never Saw Any Signs"

4 hrs ago



The mother of a 7-year-old boy allegedly sexually abused by a school bus driver and church volunteer said she "never saw any signs" that her son might have been in danger.

"It wasn't the parents' fault, it wasn't the child's fault," said the woman, who does not want to be identified.


Child Porn suspect Scott Smallwood

Twenty-seven-year-old Scott Smallwood faces federal child pornography charges after allegedly making cell phone videos of himself sexually abusing the 7-year-old victim during a series of "sleepovers" as a friend's home, according to charging documents.

Smallwood was a Prince George's County school bus driver, and a volunteer in children's programs at The Worship Center in Bryans Road, Md.

He was charged after apparently losing a data card from his cell phone at a Clinton, Md. 7-11 store. The card contained graphic videos, according to investigators.

The mother said she has known Smallwood since high school and renewed the acquaintance through a group a friends that attend The Worship Center. She allowed her son to participate in church activities with friends, although she is not a church member herself.

Beginning in December of 2009, the victim's mother said Smallwood often gave her son rides in his own vehicle to join the trusted group of friends and their children for sleepover events.

The parties were not church activities, but many of the participants were members of the church, and the mother said she felt comfortable allowing her son to attend on occasions when she had to work and could not be there to chaperone.

Instead, she learned later that Smallwood would allegedly detour to the home of another friend where he spent time alone with the boy.

"He never showed up to the sleepover," the mother said.

In February, the woman said she was summoned to the church for a meeting with the pastor after a friend of Smallwood's had told him he was uncomfortable that Smallwood was spending time alone with the boy.

She would not identify the church, but Pastor Steve Davis of The Worship Center has confirmed the meeting was with him.

The victim's mother said she and the pastor questioned her son, who said nothing bad had happened.

Davis told 9News that at that point he suspended Smallwood from participating in any church-related children's activities because he had violated strict policies about transporting and interacting with children without a second adult present.

Neither the mother nor the pastor contacted police because they did not believe anything more than a violation of church policies had occured.

"There was no proof," the mother said. Even so, she cut off contact with Smallwood and her circle of church friends.

Smallwood was arrested 3 months later, on May 21st, after the discovery of the lost video.

The mother says investigators asked her about at least one other child, but Smallwood has only been charged with incidents relating to her son.

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