Child-sex charges for man in drug case

A married father of four who was to be sentenced this month for his role in a major marijuana operation is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy last month in a South Jersey park.

Authorities said that Daniel J. Smith, 39, of Lenola Road in Cinnaminson, made contact with the teen who posted on an online message board, seeking a sexual encounter.

Police said that the two met at Wood Park, in Cinnaminson, on Dec. 1 and engaged in sexual activity inside Smith's truck, but that the juvenile wanted to stop and that Smith forced him to "complete the sexual activity."

They both agreed to meet at the same park on Friday, authorities said, but when Smith arrived, police were there to arrest him.

"You just blew me off my chair - I can't even talk about it," said a man who answered the phone at a relative's house and said he had been unaware of the charges.

According to the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, Smith is being held in Burlington County Jail on sexual-assault, attempted sexual-assault and child-endangerment charges. He was to be sentenced on Jan. 26 for his role in a North Philadelphia marijuana "grow house" operation that was shut down in July 2009 on American Street near Dauphin, near Welsh Elementary School.

Smith worked for defendant James Alberts in an operation that yielded 15 to 20 pounds of high-grade marijuana monthly, authorities said.

Alberts pleaded guilty in federal court to helping to run the operation and testified against co-defendant Richard Creamer, a Northern Liberties lawyer who was convicted in the scheme last month.

Smith's attorney in that case, Todd Henry, said he was aware of the sexual-assault charges and would likely be defending him in the case. He could not say whether the charges would affect Smith's sentence.