Utah Father Charged With Child Torture After Winter Storm Hike That Left 3 Kids Near Death

[Sugar Cookie]

Micah Smith, 31, is facing child torture and abuse charges after he took his three small children on a long, strenuous hike during a winter storm in Big Cottonwood Canyon and had to be rescued.

A Salt Lake County sheriff’s deputy wrote in charging documents that Smith was “extremely selfish” when he chose to push his three children — ages 2, 4, and 8 years old — to summit a mountain on Broads Fork Trail in October, rather than protecting them and turning around when storm clouds rolled in.

Instead, the deputy wrote, Smith insisted that they move forward, and allegedly told his oldest daughter that this was a “once-in-a-lifetime thing,” and when she said she was scared, he told her, “You shall not pass.”

That Oct. 11 night, Smith and his children got caught in a downpour of snow, hail and rain. When the family did not return and were reported missing, Salt Lake County’s search and rescue team launched a search, according to the sheriff’s office, in conjunction with helicopters from Intermountain Health’s Life Flight and the Utah Department of Public Safety’s Aero Bureau.

Charging records say Smith and his children took shelter at around 8 p.m. that evening, under a large rock with an overhang. Smith said he gathered “logs, sticks and rocks to make a windscreen,” put pine needles down and tried to use his body to keep his children warm.

His 2-year-old son had fallen and hit his head before they took shelter, and at one point the toddler stopped breathing, Smith allegedly told investigators. Smith said he performed CPR on his two young sons through the night, and at one point taught his older daughter how to do chest compressions so she could help the boys while he left them in the morning to find help.

Rescuers eventually found Smith on the trail and located his children. Charging records allege that rescuers noted that “the children were not wearing much clothing” and that the 2-year-old was lying under the 4-year-old when rescuers found them, and that they were “mostly exposed, unconscious and appeared lifeless.”

All four were hospitalized. Initially after they were found, the sheriff’s office said Smith was in fair condition, one child was stable and two were in critical condition. The four-year-old remains hospitalized as of Wednesday, according to court records.

Smith allegedly admitted to police that he was not prepared, according to the charges, and had not checked the weather before taking his children on the hike. The deputy who wrote the charging document noted that Smith’s wife had texted him urging him to turn around and come home, but he didn’t listen to her or his older daughter, who also said she was scared and wanted to go home.

Investigators later found a video on Smith’s phone where the girl asked, “Are we going to freeze to death, Daddy?”


They later retraced the family’s hike, and the deputy wrote they traveled more than 6.5 miles and had gained 3,160 feet of elevation climbing through shifting rocks and thorny bushes.

Investigators asked a judge to hold Smith in jail without bail, noting that since the rescue, he has been charged with domestic violence and was told to leave Primary Children’s Hospital for trespassing, after “interfering” with his 4-year-old’s care and “tampering with equipment.”

Smith’s “behavior is clearly spiraling,” the deputy wrote. “And he’s not only a danger to himself, but he is a danger to these victims. The defendant’s intentional and selfish act left his children in grave danger, with one of them dying and being revived multiple times, and will never fully recover.”

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A gofundme that was started by Micah Smith's brother has been removed from the platform.

 

[Symmachus]

Survivalism is certainly a good skill to have.

But forcing young children to endure adverse weather while not giving them adequate protection from or preparation for its elements and refusing to heed them being so (reasonably) scared about the situation is very selfish of this man.

I just hope that none of his children die from this. There is a time and place for survival skills and the great outdoors. Having a relationship with nature and knowing how to adapt to it is, yes, a wonderful approach to have. But trying to teach that to your kids when you yourself have no such serious skills, and putting the kids' lives in danger is so selfish and reckless.

 

[Alxprkrkrls]

He seems like an arrogant alpha male know it all, I hope the mom gets full custody. Who tampers with a critical child’s medical equipment after they almost killed them?! At least he had the decency to preform CPR on them, poor daughter is gonna be traumatized…

 

[Alxprkrkrls]

An article from Law & Crime has more details on the 4 year olds condition and it’s not good…”When the rescue team made its way to the children via helicopter, the 4-year-old "was mostly exposed, unconscious, and 'appeared lifeless,'" according to the charging document. The boy lacked a pulse and, en route to the hospital, required intubation and "25 minutes of CPR." At the hospital, he required multiple rounds of epinephrine, CPR, and "suffered a stroke, which required a portion of his skull to be removed and an external ventricular drain to be placed.”

 

[cubby]

I wouldn't walk a 2 and 4 year old across a football field in high summer, so what was his objective here? I think he was "punishing" someone, probably his wife, kid's mother, showing her he would do what he was going to do and nobody could stop him. I hope he goes to jail forever, he has, at the least, traumatized those children for the rest of their lives and at the worst, killed one of his children, because he couldn't admit that he's a fucking moron.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Smith appeared at a hearing Tuesday on child torture and aggravated child abuse charges. Smith's mother-in-law says he tried his best to take care of his kids, adding he had hyperthermia and dehydration and got lost because of the storm.

Dad Faces Child Abuse And Torture Charges After Family Hike

Micah Smith took his three children on a hike in Utah. The weather turned and a storm blew in. Smith allegedly told his children to tough it out and "march on." The children were rescued the next day ...

www.yahoo.com

 

[cubby]

View attachment 193456

Dad Faces Child Abuse And Torture Charges After Family Hike

Micah Smith took his three children on a hike in Utah. The weather turned and a storm blew in. Smith allegedly told his children to tough it out and "march on." The children were rescued the next day ...

www.yahoo.com

And he may have taken care of them as best he could in the moment, BUT he should never have taken 3 small children on a long winter hike. Anybody who actually cared about the welfare of their children wouldn't have done it and would have advised him not to do it. I agree it was abuse and torture and he should be charged accordingly.

 

[BuffettGirl]

This is making me think about mental illness... is he just getting started down that path?