1/17/18
by News Department on 01/17/18Smith waives hearing...
A Tamaqua man who once served as a deputy coroner in Schuylkill and Carbon counties waived his right Tuesday to a preliminary hearing on sexual abuse charges involving a young boy.
60 year old Edward C. Smith was scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Stephen J. Bayer, Tamaqua, but instead decided to have the charges against him heard in Schuylkill County Court.
In Schuylkill County, Smith was charges in connection with incidents at his home at various times in 2015 and 2016.
Smith was taken into custody in Luzerne County on Sept. 20, 2017, after he solicited an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old boy for unlawful sexual contact.
After waiving his hearing, Smith was returned to Luzerne County Prison where he is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail for the Schuylkill County charges as well as other charges in Luzerne County.
