Laurel Smith secures 108-year sentence in infant rape, exploitation case.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Laurel Smith secured a 108-year prison sentence Friday for Stephen Rian Price, a Washougal man convicted of raping and exploiting two infants. A Clark County jury found Price guilty on 17 counts, and Smith successfully argued for an exceptional sentence based on the case’s severity and the jury’s special verdicts. “This was someone who was procreating for the purpose of sexual abuse,” she told the court. “Raping babies and bragging about it like it was a sport.”
Smith rejected a proposed federal plea deal of 15–20 years — which will run concurrently — calling it “a joke,” and emphasized the lasting harm caused by Price’s actions and the global spread of his abuse materials. Judge Jennifer Snider agreed, saying, “I can’t think of anything worse,” and imposed one of the harshest sentences in county history.
