A former school resource officer for Easton Area High School will spend up to two years in county prison for sending an explicit photo to a student, according to officials.
Former Palmer Township police officer John Smoke, 46, was sentenced Wednesday to nine to 24 months, minus two days, on a charge of corruption of minors, Northampton County District Attorney Stephen Baratta said in a news release. Smoke pleaded guilty in May.
He sent a photo to the student, and also sent the student cash through an app. Police said he also contacted her at inappropriate hours. Authorities charged him last year after the DA’s office was told he sent the photo.
Smoke’s attorney, John Waldron, said he has no prior record, was a career police officer and had numerous character letters. Waldron has said Smoke will not work in law enforcement again, and takes responsibility for his actions.
In a statement after Smoke’s arrest, Palmer police said Smoke had been suspended with “intent to terminate,” and that the interactions between Smoke and the student were an “isolated matter.”
The department said there was no indication there were any other student victims.
In addition to his prison sentence, Smoke was sentenced to three years of probation.
