Media Man Accused in 1981 Rapes of Children Pleads Not Guilty

A 65-year-old Media man, who was indicted in April on charges of sexually abusing four children in 1981 when he was a youth camp counselor in Massachusetts, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Richard P. Smith was indicted by a Barnstable County, Mass. Grand Jury for rape of a child, indecent assault and battery and five counts of indecent assault and battery upon a child under the age of 14, according to a press release issued by Massachusetts District Attorney Michael O’Keefe.

Smith, who is a 1966 graduate of Episcopal Academy and taught at the school from 1970 to 1990 and then worked in the development office until 1998, allegedly told investigators he also molested a fourth-grade Episcopal student around 1977 while they were in his car and admitted the incident to the head of the school, according to court documents obtained by the Philadelphia Inquirer. The student later reported the abuse, according to philly.com.

Smith pleaded not guilty and is being held at Barnstable County Correctional Facility on $10,000 bail. He is due back in court May 28 for a pretrial conference and July 15 for a pretrial hearing, according to the Cape Cod Times.

On Wednesday, Smith's attorney Allison MacLellan told the Cape Cod Times that the evidence against Smith is not conclusive.

“This is not black and white,” MacLellan told the Cape Cod Times. “It's been a long, broken road to get where we are today.”