Ronald John Smith, found not guilty by a Douglas County District Court jury of charges that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old boy, believes he was the victim of a jealous ex-girlfriend.
"She couldn't stand to see me with another woman," Smith said in an interview two days after he was released from Douglas County Jail where he spent seven months and 17 days.
"I was moving my stuff out of her house, slowly," Smith said.
The woman is the mother of the boy who claimed Smith assaulted him over a six-month period last year.
"What happened?" he asked. "I don't know, but I think she set me up."
Smith, 42, said he believes she had the boy fabricate the story because she knew he was going to end the relationship.
Smith was arrested in September and held in jail on $750,000 bail. He pleaded not guilty to four charges of sexual assault against a child under 14.
A jury of seven women and five men deliberated for 14 hours over two days before finding Smith not guilty on Tuesday. Several of the jurors were in tears when the verdicts were read.
"I'd like people to know that the law is not right where a kid can say you did something and you can be arrested with no evidence," Smith said Thursday. "It could happen to anybody. It's just been overwhelming."
The boy testified for hours at a preliminary hearing and during the trial relaying allegations he claimed occurred when he was 12 years old.
If convicted, Smith could have been sentenced to life in prison.
Smith did not testify, but friends who did claimed he was a father figure to the boy who was devoted to him.
"He misses me. I know he does," he said. "The only thing I hold against him is that he knows right from wrong and he didn't tell the truth."
Smith alleged that investigators overlooked evidence and failed to secure the boy's bedroom where the child claimed most of the assaults occurred.
That gave the boy's mother the opportunity to plant evidence which made Smith look guilty, he said.
"He (the boy) told the deputy he didn't even know if I was circumcised," Smith said. "He described incidents that physically weren't possible. He changed times and locations. He was allowed to change the calendar he made that supposedly detailed everything he said happened."
Smith watched a DVD of the boy's interview with sheriff's investigators where he offers different explanations for what happened from what he testified to in court.
Smith claimed the child was coached by his mother or other family members.
"He (the boy) is so scared of being taken away from his mother. She threatens him with Child Protective Services if he doesn't do what she wants," Smith said.
He pointed to segments in the interviews which he said were overlooked or ignored by investigators.
"People can come to my house and I can show them the lies and stuff," he said indicating pages of handwritten notes he made during the trial, DVDs and copies of transcripts.
Smith declined to elaborate on the details of the evening of Sept. 3 when the boy's mother claimed she found Smith hiding naked in her son's closet.
He said was advised by his lawyer, Laura Grant of Carson City, not to discuss specifics.
"It didn't happen," he said. "I can prove that she has four different versions of what she said happened that night."
Even though he's been cleared of the charges, Smith said his lawyer's advice was to sell his property and move.
But Smith said he doesn't want to leave the area where he's lived more than 15 years.
"I know who my friends are now," he said. "I have nothing to hide. I am going to keep my head held high and walk proudly."
It's not going to be easy.
On Thursday, he found out he was fired as a truck driver for Bently Agrowdynamics while he was in jail.
"I went over to see about my job on Wednesday, and they chased me off the property," he said.
A registered letter was sent to his home that he was being terminated and that the position had to be filled.
While he was in jail - for seven months and 17 days - he said he was threatened as a "ChoMo" or child molester on a daily basis. He also said he had no privacy to work on his defense.
Smith's parents obtained a $60,000 equity loan on their property in Michigan and moved to Nevada to assist their son.
Smith said his mother ended up in the hospital because of stress over the allegations.
"If it wasn't for my mom and dad, I would have lost my house and property," he said. "I love my parents to death. If she would have died, I don't know what I would have done."
Smith said the first thing he did when he got home was hug his mother, who was too ill to attend the court proceedings, and play with his dog.
"Then I broke down," he said.
He got his first good night's sleep in months.
"In jail I kept waking up at 1 a.m. The last two days (in jail) were the worst," he said. "I kept wondering why deliberations were taking so long."
Smith said he expects to be defending himself from the allegations for a long time.
"My mother said I am going to be talking about this all the rest of my life."
