Houston Nanny Sentenced To 30 Years For Sexual Abuse Of Child

HOUSTON, TX — A Houston man was sentenced to 30 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to continued sexual abuse of a child, court records show.

Lee Smith III was sentenced in the 248th District Court in Harris County on Tuesday morning.

Smith was charged in 2019 and served as a nanny for two boys, whom he molested while they were under his care for a period of about a year, the Harris County District Attorney's Office said in a release Wednesday.

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After Smith stopped nannying for the boys, who were 9 years old at the time, they told their mother about the abuse, according to the release.

"The law against the continuous sexual abuse of a child in Texas ensures this predator will spend every single day of his 30-year-sentence in prison," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement. "He will never be eligible for parole."

The guilty plea means that the children won't have to shoulder the burden of testifying on the abuse in court, Harris County Assistant District Attorney Lara Hogue of the Sex Crimes Division said in the release.