Ex-KBI official pleads guilty to sexual exploitation of a child

A former Kansas Bureau of Investigation deputy director has pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child.

Kyle Smith, 57, appeared Thursday before Shawnee County District Judge Cheryl Kingfisher.

The exploitation charge alleged that Smith possessed a photo of a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct in November. He was also accused of trying to destroy evidence on a telephone and a computer, but the state agreed to dismiss those charges.

Smith was arrested in early February. His attorney, Thomas Haney, said at the time that the charges involved viewing a publicly available image on a website and that no child was endangered.

Haney has described Smith's departure from the KBI late last year as a retirement.

This story was originally published March 27, 2014 at 8:22 AM with the headline "Ex-KBI official pleads guilty to sexual exploitation of a child."