Leake County Man Pleads Guilty to Sexual Abuse of a Minor, Faces Up to 15 Years
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Mississippi announced on November 10 that a Leake County man pleaded guilty that day in federal court to the sexual abuse of a minor. U.S. Attorney Baxter Kruger and Robert Eikhoff, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Jackson Office, made the announcement.
According to court documents, the defendant, Daunte Gage Smith, 22, engaged in sexual contact with a female minor who was older than 12 years of age but younger than 16 years of age at the time of the offense. Court records show that the conduct occurred in the Redwater Community of the Choctaw Indian Reservation beginning in March of 2025 and continuing until March of 2026. The Justice Department did not release the victim's name.
Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on February 26, 2027, and faces up to fifteen years in prison and at least five years of federal supervision. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Choctaw Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin J. Payne and Brian K. Burns and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kalleigh McCoy.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国联邦调查局总部胡佛大楼（华盛顿）。联邦调查局为本案调查机构之一。ajay_suresh 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: FBI headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington. The FBI investigated this case. ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
