Smithville Man Charged with Sexual Exploitation of Minor

December 17, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A Smithville man caught with images of children engaging in sexual activity has been arrested.

67 year old Rick Allen Meurer of West Main Street, Smithville is charged with 2 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

The warrants allege that on December 10 Meurer knowingly possessed one image of a minor female child (in one case) and a minor male child (in the other case) engaged in sexual activity. Meurer admitted to having possession of the images.

His bond totals $30,000 and he will make a court appearance December 19.

December 17, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

Thirty eight fifth graders at DeKalb West School graduated from the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program in a ceremony Monday afternoon.

D.A.R.E. is a DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department-led series of classroom lessons that teaches fifth graders in DeKalb County how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives.

Lewis Carrick, the Sheriff’s Department’s School Resource Officer at DeKalb West School, doubles as the D.A.R.E Officer instructor for the fifth grade classes.

The 10 week course identifies fundamental, basic skills and developmental processes needed for healthy development including: Self-awareness and management, Responsible decision making, Understanding others, Relationship and communication skills, and Handling responsibilities and challenges.

D.A.R.E. believes that if you can teach youth to make safe and responsible decisions, it will guide them to healthy choices, not only about drugs, but across all parts of their lives. As they grow to be responsible citizens, they will lead healthier and more productive drug-free lives.

As part of the course, students prepared essays on what they have learned from D.A.R.E. and a winner was selected from each fifth grade class. The winners at DeKalb West School were Kenadee Prichard from Mrs. Nadina Martel’s class and Hannah Brown from Mrs. Jeanna Caplinger’s class. Prichard was the overall winner and she received a $50 check from General Sessions and Juvenile Court Judge Bratten Cook, II.

Judge Cook also addressed the class.

“You have been blessed and you will remember years from now what Officer Carrick has taught you this year. Each day you have hundreds of decisions to make and the time may come when you will be faced with difficult choices when it comes to peer pressure and drugs, alcohol, tobacco, vaping and those things. When friends of yours do those things, they may try and talk you into it. If they do, just say no. Tell them I am not going to mess up my life. Every week (in court) I see kids who have messed up their lives by fooling with drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Many of them are kids from good families that just made a bad decision. My advice to you is think before you act. Use the brain that God gave you,” said Judge Cook.

D.A.R.E. students in Mrs. Caplinger’s Class are Hunter Ballew, Cayleigh Barber, Ben Barton, Hannah Brown, Debra Busey, Jennifer Fortune, Thomas Foutch, Justin Howard, Miah Johnson, Kaylee Kent, Cecil Ketchum, Amber McDaniel, Preslee Merriman, Kason Nichols, Izzy Prichard, Kaylee Redmon, Leyton Scarbrough, Matt Shahan, and Wyatt Young.

D.A.R.E students in Mrs. Martel’s Class are Alexis Bennett, Chloe Boyd, Ethan Brown, Timothy Campbell, Charlie Cripps, Ben Driver, Jesse Foutch, Emily Fry, Olivia George, Victoria Harn, Eli Johnson, Michael Justice, Raegan Murphy, Elliott Nelson, Kenadee Prichard, Taytum Reeder, Alexis Reynolds, Mary Jane Scott, and Chase Young.

December 16, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A 20 year old Smithville man was airlifted after a one car rollover crash today (Monday) on Highway 288 near Jefferson Road in the Keltonburg Community.

Trooper Bobby Johnson of the Tennessee Highway Patrol said Payton France was traveling east in a 1999 Chevy Lumina when he failed to negotiate a curve and went off the left side of the road. The car crashed  through a fence and clipped a utility pole before overturning in a field and coming to rest on its top. A passerby spotted the wreck and pulled France from the car.

He was treated at the scene by DeKalb EMS and taken nearby to a helicopter landing zone at the Keltonburg Fire Station. France was then airlifted to a medical facility in Knoxville.

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