Former Banks High School teacher Wymon Wayne Smith, 67, pleaded guilty to two sexual abuse counts Wednesday morning and was sentenced to more than six years in prison.
Judge Kathleen Proctor sentenced Smith to 75 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to sex abuse in the first degree and sex abuse in the second degree. She also mandated that he register as a sex offender, serve 10 years of post-prison supervision, and lose his teaching certification. Deputy District Attorney Matt Wise prosecuted the case.
Prior to his sentencing, Smith had been fired from the district and permanently barred from entering campus, the district attorney's office said in a press release.
The district attorney's office said he began an inappropriate and "increasingly flirtatious" relationship with a student, and on Jan. 6, 2025, while alone with the student in class, he told the student to close the door so he could give them "a real hug."
"The defendant then hugged the minor and touched the student inappropriately. He admitted to the student that he 'shouldn’t be doing this,'" the district attorney's office said.
The student told a friend, who told an adult. Law enforcement and school staff were immediately notified, and Smith was placed on leave pending the results of an investigation.
Detectives soon discovered a second victim, the district attorney's office said.
"After the initial investigation, detectives learned of a second abuse victim, another student at the school. The defendant also initiated an increasingly flirtatious relationship with this student that progressed to explicit sexual text messages and forceful sexual contact over a period of time," the office said.
The district attorney's office commended the victims for reporting the abuse and thanked the Washington County Sheriff's Office for its part in the case.
