Judge: Hempfield woman accused of sharing child pornography can be released from jail

A Hempfield woman charged with disseminating a video that police said depicts another woman having sex with a 5-year-old boy can be released from prison, a judge ruled Friday.

Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani ordered Amanda Smith to be released on nominal bond while she awaits trial next month, but he said she cannot live with the woman who turned her in to police.

Smith, 29, has been in custody since her arrest last summer, having been unable to post a $100,000 bond. She requested to live with her boyfriend’s mother, who is caring for two young children.

Feliciani ruled Smith will have to find another place to live, remain on house arrest and have no contact with children or her two co-defendants.

In court Friday, defense attorney Patricia Elliott-Rentler said Smith, who is charged with distributing photographs of child sex acts and possession of child pornography, denied having any responsibility for creating the video. Her lawyer told the judge she only shared the video in an effort to report it to authorities.

“She turned it over to somebody; she knew was legally obligated to report it,” Elliott-Rentler said.

Smith asked for a reduced bond because she claimed her constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated. Smith has been in the county prison for more than six months without her case having gone to trial. She will remain in custody until she finds a suitable home.

Police said Smith’s current boyfriend, Charles Jason Hunter, 32, forced an ex-girlfriend to be recorded having sex with a child. Hunter is in jail without bond as he awaits trial on charges of rape and other offenses.

Corby Jo Kinzey, 24, the woman police contend is in the video with the child, also is in jail without bond. She was charged with more than 30 counts, including rape and other offenses. A judge ruled last month Kinzey was not competent to stand trial.