WASHINGTON — A former Loudoun County Public Schools teacher was ordered to surrender his teaching license and register as a sex offender this week after pleading guilty to soliciting a sex act from a minor.
William Cody Smallwood, of Front Royal, Virginia, was charged in April with one count of using a communications system to propose a sex act to a minor under the age of 15. He pleaded guilty in Frederick Circuit Court on Wednesday to a lesser felony version of the offense.
By pleading guilty, Smallwood avoided the potential of a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence under Virginia law for soliciting a minor under the age of 15 by a person who is seven or more years older. He was instead sentenced to five years in prison, with all of that time suspended except for approximately seven months he's already served behind bars since his arrest.
According to Frederick County Commonwealth's Attorney Ross Spicer, Smallwood was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and two years of unsupervised release, during which time he was ordered not to use the Internet. Smallwood will have to register as a sex offender and surrender his teaching license.
Smallwood was hired by Loudoun County Public Schools in 2017 and worked a teacher at Heritage High School in Leesburg prior to his arrest. In August 2023, Heritage High School Principal Jeff Adam sent a brief letter to the school community saying Smallwood had been placed on leave without any additional information. According to court filings, the alleged incident occurred in July 2023 in Frederick County.
Adam sent another letter to Heritage High School families earlier this year informing them Smallwood had been charged with a felony and suspended without pay. Adam’s letter said the alleged offense did not involve a Heritage High School student.