Boarding school doctor has COVID. Prosecutors say he should stay in Arkansas jail
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office wants David Smock, a Stockton physician facing multiple charges of child sex crimes, to stay in an Arkansas county jail for the time being because he has COVID-19.
That’s according to a document filed Thursday in response to a request from Smock’s attorney that the doctor be given bond or released on his own recognizance.
A hearing on the motion is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday in Cedar County Circuit Court.
In the past nine days Smock, described by the AG’s office as “the exclusive physician for Agape Boarding School,” has been charged with a combined 11 counts of child sex crimes in Cedar and Greene counties.
Warrants were issued for his arrest and U.S. Marshals took him into custody Tuesday night in a Harrison, Arkansas, “rent by the hour motel room.” Harrison is just a 1½-hour drive from Smock’s 11-bedroom home with a pool and gymnasium near Jerico Springs, the AG’s response said.
“Defendant claims in his motion that due to his medical history, he is at increased risk of contracting COVID if he cannot shelter at home,” the response said. “However Defendant has been traveling throughout the United States while evading law enforcement authorities, thus demonstrating no intent to protect himself against COVID.
“Furthermore, Defendant tested positive for COVID when he was admitted to the jail in Boone County, Arkansas. For that reason, Defendant should remain detained in Arkansas so as not to expose any additional persons to COVID.”
Craig Heidemann, Smock’s attorney on the Cedar County charges, told The Star Wednesday that his client never ran from authorities. Smock was on a “pre-planned Christmas visit to see his son in Louisiana,” Heidemann said, and only learned about the Greene County charges after he was already out of state.
“We were coordinating when he would show up,” Heidemann said. Smock had planned to turn himself in Wednesday morning in Cedar County, according to his attorney, who also pointed out that the doctor’s own behavior showed he wasn’t running from the law.
Smock, he said, continued to use his cellphone – which could be tracked – and parked right outside his hotel room. When marshals showed up at his motel room door, he let them in, Heidemann said.
But the AG’s motion said Smock was intentionally avoiding arrest. And law enforcement officials told The Star he was considered a fugitive for several days.
“Defendant evaded law enforcement authorities from December 21, 2021 until the evening of December 28, 2021,” the motion said. “Evidence suggests during that time Defendant traveled through Chicago, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
“... Additionally, Defendant has access to a private plane and has a son who is a pilot. Defendant has a valid passport. Defendant successfully evaded law enforcement authorities for 8 days. Defendant has clearly demonstrated that he is a serious flight risk.”
Springfield attorney Stacie Calhoun Bilyeu, who also is representing Smock, filed a similar bond motion in Greene County this week. She said her client is trustworthy and should be granted bond or even released.
“The Defendant is a resident of the State of Missouri and asserts that Defendant will make no attempt to flee and that he will comply with all bond conditions set forth by this Court,” Bilyeu wrote in the motion.
She also said Smock is a full-time medical doctor, has no prior criminal convictions, no history of mental health problems and “does have the means to pay his bond.”
The 11 charges against Smock in Greene and Cedar counties are all felonies. They include first- and second-degree statutory sodomy, child molestation and stalking.
A Greene County judge ruled last week that once arrested, Smock should be held without bond pending trial, saying there were “reasonable grounds to believe the defendant will not appear on summons, is a danger to the crime victim, the community or another person.”
In her motion, Bilyeu included a long list of reasons why Smock shouldn’t be kept behind bars. She described 10 “severe health conditions, including hypertension, chronic recurrent sinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease with hiatal hernia and hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol).
Bilyeu said in her motion that Smock needs to travel to Yuma, Arizona, for about a week in late January to carry out obligations such as training a fellow doctor on occupational health at the clinic that Smock runs in that community. She said Smock is “on the Arizona Police Board” and is scheduled to conduct police physicals while there.
If Smock is released on bond, Bilyeu said he had a “home plan” in place. The doctor would stay in Stockton with friend Jonathan Petrie and his wife. Jonathan Petrie’s Facebook page says he is clinic manager at the Stockton Lake Walk-In Clinic, which Smock operates.
“There are no persons under the age of 18 living in the home,” the motion says.
At the clinic, Smock “works primarily with immigration physicals, Missouri Department of Transportation physicals, and Medicare physicals,” according to the motion. “Defendant is also a Medical Review Officer for the Missouri Department of Transportation,” it says.
Bilyeu said the reasons provided in the motion “demonstrate that the alleged victim and/or public are not in danger and that a ROR (release on own recognizance) and/or bond with the conditions proposed herein offer the least restrictive means for securing the appearance of the Defendant and the safety of the alleged victim and/or the public.”
The office of Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in its response to the bond motion that probable cause statements on Smock’s charges “show a long standing history of sexual abuse by Defendant against minor boys.”
That abuse, the office said, dates back to 1988 and extends from California and Arizona to Missouri.
“The patterns of grooming and abuse remained unchanged over nearly four decades,” the response said.
Greene County prosecutors allege that Smock groomed the young male Agape student he is accused of sodomizing and molesting, buying him a cellphone, taking his family on trips and throwing him birthday parties, according to court records obtained by The Star.
The AG’s motion also says that Smock “has invited children in the community to his house on numerous occasions for parties and to utilize the gymnasium, pool, and game room.”
“Defendant has also leased a portion of his home to a boarding school for boys while Defendant still resided in this home,” the response says. “Defendant consistently places himself in situations to gain easy and unquestioned access to his victim pool of minor boys. Defendant’s conduct proves that he is a danger to future victims, witnesses, and the community.”
The AG’s response also noted that two former Agape staffers charged in September with abusing students are currently living in Smock’s mansion.
“Their cases are pending in Cedar County,” the motion said. “This situation of housing other defendants accused of harming children is alarming and illustrated the danger that Defendant poses to the community, especially to minors.”
This story was originally published December 30, 2021 at 3:49 PM.
