Stepfather Gets 30 Years In Toddler's Death

Friday, February 2nd 2007, 8:15 am

By: News On 6

CHANDLER, Okla. (AP) A Meeker man charged with first-degree murder in the killing of his 2-year-old stepdaughter pleaded guilty Friday to a lesser charge in Lincoln County District Court and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

During a 10-minute hearing in a crowded courtroom, Michael Lee Porter, 26, pleaded guilty to enabling child abuse by injury, a felony, and was sentenced by District Judge Paul Vassar, said Gail Payne, the county's first deputy court clerk.

Lincoln County prosecutors agreed to drop the murder and child sexual abuse charges filed against Porter after the Oct. 11, 2005, death of Kelsey Smith-Briggs.

Porter, who had been released on $250,000 bail, was taken into custody after the hearing. He had been set to go on trial on Feb. 12.

Porter's ex-wife Rae Dawn Smith, the toddler's mother, is charged with enabling child abuse and neglect. Smith and Porter divorced after the toddler's death.

Smith is set to go on trial on June 11, Payne said.

The child allegedly suffered repeated episodes of abuse. She broke a collarbone in January 2005 and fractured both shins in April 2005.

She had been removed from her mother's care in January 2005 because of the abuse concerns but was allowed overnight stays.

A judge in June 2005 returned her to her mother's care after ruling the abuser was unknown. The judge and child welfare workers were monitoring Kelsey's care when she died.

Last spring, the state Legislature passed the Kelsey Smith-Briggs Child Protection Reform Act, which strengthens training of court-appointed child advocates and makes judges more accountable for their rulings in child-placement cases.

It also augments the ability of state agencies, including the state Department of Human Services and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, to act on behalf of children in abusive homes.