Conroe Woman Convicted on Multiple Child Pornography Charges Sentenced to 25 Years

HOUSTON—Debra Jean Eyerly, 54, formerly Debra Martin-Pryce, has been ordered to prison for 25 years following her convictions for production, transportation, and possession of child pornography, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. Eyerly pleaded guilty October 25, 2012, to conspiracy to produce, production, transportation, and possession of child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison, who accepted the guilty pleas, sentenced Eyerly this morning to 300 months on the conspiracy and each of the three convictions of production, as well as 120 months on the transportation and possession charges. All sentences will be served concurrently for a total sentence of 300 months. Following her release from prison, she will serve the rest of her life on supervised release.

The investigation began as a result of several downloads of child pornography over the Internet by FBI officers in Tulsa, Buffalo, and Detroit, which were traced to a computer used by Matthew Eyerly, whom agents later located in an apartment in Conroe. Also present were Debra Martin-Pryce and a minor child. Debra Martin-Pryce eventually married Matthew Eyerly.

When asked about the minor child in the apartment, Matthew Eyerly stated there would be pictures of the child on the computer. He admitted to digital and oral contact with the genitals of the child and having taken pictures of these acts, which took place at an earlier visit in July 2006 in Conroe. At that time, Debra Eyerly had left him alone with the child in a motel room.

Agents also interviewed Debra Eyerly, who stated she had recently moved to Texas from Pennsylvania to be with Matthew Eyerly. She had admitted to taking photos of the child and sending them to Matthew Eyerly at his request. She had taken the photos at her Pennsylvania residence and sent them to Eyerly over the Internet. She also admitted to leaving the minor child alone with Matthew Eyerly in a hotel room at his request at the earlier Conroe visit.

Both consented to searches of their computers. A forensic exam subsequently revealed images of the child on both computers as well as a camera belonging to Debra Eyerly. Additional images of child pornography downloaded from the Internet and not involving the minor child were also found on both computers.

Matthew Eyerly, 36, was also sentenced to 30 years in federal prison at a hearing last month. He had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce child pornography and possession of child pornography.

Debra Eyerly has been in custody since her October 28, 2011 arrest, where she will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Stabe and investigated by the FBI, was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”