50岁的爱德华·吉恩·史密斯是花旗集团前常务董事，近日在纽约曼哈顿联邦法院被判处30年监禁[1]。法官保罗·A·恩格尔迈耶于周二宣判[1]。史密斯承认了包括性犯罪、贩运儿童色情制品和妨碍司法公正在内的多项罪名[1]。
检控方指控史密斯在2015年至2024年间实施犯罪行为[1]。他通过承诺提供经济保障的方式引诱脆弱女性，随后使用毒品使受害者失去行为能力，进而进行强奸和性侵犯[1]。美国律师杰伊·克莱顿表示，受害者遭到"拷打和惩罚"，并被秘密拍摄[1]。检控方还指出史密斯拥有数万份儿童性虐待材料[1]。
史密斯曾在花旗集团工作，于2021年至2024年间任职，后在逮捕前离职[1]。花旗集团随后发表声明称："在了解执法部门初步调查后立即终止了Smith的职位"[1]。
Edward Gene Smith, a 50-year-old former managing director at Citigroup, was sentenced to 30 years in prison by Manhattan federal judge Paul A. Engelmayer on Tuesday for multiple sex offenses.[1] Smith pleaded guilty to charges including trafficking in child sexual abuse material, administering drugs with intent to commit rape, and sexual abuse.[1]
Prosecutors alleged that between 2015 and 2024, Smith lured vulnerable women by promising financial security, then drugged them to render them incapable of consent before subjecting them to rape and sexual assault.[1] According to U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, victims were "beaten and punished" and secretly photographed during these crimes.[1] Smith was found to possess tens of thousands of child sexual abuse materials.[1] While employed at Citigroup until his arrest in 2024, the firm stated it terminated his position immediately upon learning of the preliminary investigation by law enforcement.[1]
In a 1998 op-ed in The Harvard Crimson, Smith wrote: "Being raped by someone you know and trust is uniquely traumatic. The right to say no is a human right, a basic control over one's own body."[1]