Ex-Washington state newspaper editor pleads not guilty to paying girls for sexually explicit images

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A former Spokesman-Review newspaper editor arrested and accused of paying girls for sexually explicit images has pleaded not guilty to nearly a dozen charges. KHQ-TV reports Steven Smith pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 11 charges of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Smith has remained in Spokane County Jail since his arrest on July 20 with bond set at $25,000. Court documents say an account in Smith’s name for a mobile cash payment service was linked to an investigation into children using social media to send sexually explicit photos of themselves in exchange for money. The 73-year-old Smith was executive editor of The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, from 2002 to 2008.