Chubbuck man arrested after victim’s friend reports sexual abuse
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CHUBBUCK — A report by a victim’s friend to an adult led to the arrest of a local man who allegedly had lewd conduct with the 13-year-old victim.
Weston Tyler Smith, 35, was charged with four felony counts of lewd conduct with a child under 16.
If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
Smith is scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge Scott Axline for a preliminary hearing at 1:15 p.m. on Aug. 5.
According to court documents, the victim had confided to a friend that she had been assaulted by Smith and asked the friend not to tell anyone.
The friend told a family member, who reached out to the Chubbuck Police Department to report the incident on June 24.
The document states that when the first instance of abuse occurred, the victim went back out to the hot tub, and Smith joined after getting a drink and gave one to the victim.
The victim said Smith had gotten drunk and had followed her to her room and raped her.
The next day, the victim said, she wanted to tell a family member, but got nervous and didn’t want to upset them.
She recalled that Smith had come to the living room and had asked the victim if she remembered the other night, and she said no. The victim said that Smith told her that it was good and that he had gotten drunk and didn’t remember either.
Child Protective Services and a detective with the CPD visited the home and spoke with the victim regarding the incident. When asked if she had been inappropriately touched, she responded with yes.
On June 26, the victim had a forensic interview at the Bright Tomorrow Advocacy Center over the inappropriately touching by Smith.
The documents state the victim reported that Smith had been sexually touching her multiple times since April until a few weeks before the date of the interview.
She said Smith had done this under the guise of educating her on puberty and sex.
The victim said Smith would explain parts of the body with both of them being naked. She said some of the incidents included Smith asking her to help “relieve him.”
Though Smith has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.