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Firing of forestry employee who showed porn is upheld

Monday, July 26, 2004 | 10:44 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A state hearing officer has upheld the firing of a state forestry conservation crew supervisor who showed pornographic videos to his prison inmate crew at the Indians Springs Conservation Camp in Southern Nevada.

Hearing Officer Angela Cartwright, in a decision released today, said the actions Larry Smithson, an eight-year employee of the state Forestry Division, violated prison rules against providing pornographic materials to the convicts.

Smithson, in testimony to the hearing officer in appealing his dismissal, said he was showing the sexually provocative video to the inmates to play a trick on them and to teach them a lesson.

But Cartwright said testimony from others discredited the story of Smithson. She said Smithson had an inmate brings three videotapes to the forestry office from the prison camp without the knowledge of superiors in the forestry division or prison.

"Allowing inmates to possess contraband and not reporting it to the prison authorities is a gross violation of their rules and the Forestry Division's inmate fraternization policy," the hearing officer wrote.

Cartwright said the actions of Smithson "placed him in a position to be victimized by inmates who now had 'something on him' with which to extract favors."

Smithson was also charged with storing three porno videos in his mailbox in the incident that occurred in December 2002.

Investigator Rich Harvey said a supervisor had reported the misconduct to superior Mike Neitz who did not take any action.

The hearing officer said there was a management problem at the camp and it led to the termination of Neitz. Neitz told authorities he heard rumors of the video showing but never took action.

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