MA Man Who Worked At Preschool Charged With Child Porn Possession

SUTTON, MA — A Sutton man who worked as a preschool teacher in Sweden has been arrested and charged with possession of child pornography, according to federal prosecutors.

The investigation began in July when Yahoo notified the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about images of naked children that were sent from an email account belonging to Oliver Smith, according to court documents.

At the time, Smith was teaching at a preschool in Stockholm. In August, Swedish police arrested Smith near his home. Smith, 45, told the Swedish investigators he had downloaded hundreds of explicit images of children, according to court documents.

"According to Smith, he was 'studying' children’s sexuality," a federal Homeland Security Investigations affidavit says. "He admitted that he knew the subject is controversial and stated that was the reason for him to keep his study secret."

Swedish police also discovered Smith had recorded children at his preschool while they urinated, according to court documents.

At the end of August, Smith left Sweden and came to Boston, where he told immigration officials he would be living in Sutton. U.S. investigators didn't find out about Smith's arrest in Sweden until mid-October, and it wasn't until Nov. 15 that they searched his home in Sutton.

During interviews, Smith told federal investigators he had saved multiple photos of nude children, and said, "since it’s not hurting them, I have them for the beauty of it," according to court documents.

Smith is being held in federal detention pending a Dec. 3 federal court hearing. The U.S. Attorney in Boston is asking anyone from the public with questions or information about the case to call 617-748-3274.