A Commerce man has been sentenced to prison, after pleading guilty to multiple counts alleging the possession of child pornography.
Erion Eugene Shirley, 32, was awaiting trial January 26 on two indictments, with a total of 58 counts, alleging the possession of child pornography with the intent to promote and had pleaded not guilty.
But during a Tuesday afternoon hearing in the 354th District Court, Shirley pleaded guilty to four of the counts. The charge is a third degree felony, each punishable upon conviction by a maximum sentence of from two to 10 years in prison.
Shirley received the maximum of 10 years in prison on three of the counts and five years in prison on the fourth count. Judge Richard A. Beacom set the sentences to run consecutively, meaning Shirley will have to complete the sentence on each count before starting the sentence on the next.
The Hunt County grand jury issued the indictments in August of last year. One of the indictments was issued open, the second — which contained the remaining 57 counts — was issued sealed, pending Shirley’s arraignment. Trial had been scheduled to begin January 26.
The indictments allege the offenses had occurred on 58 occasions starting on Jan. 3, 2014.
According to a report from the Commerce Police Department, investigators received information from the Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office in late July 2014 about an individual in the City of Commerce downloading and distributing child pornography. The Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office had been working in conjunction with the ICAC (Internet crimes against children) Task Force and the Commerce Police Department on similar cases.
On Aug. 17, 2014 the investigation came to a point where probable cause was established by the detectives and a search warrant was obtained and executed on a residence in the 2300 block of Taylor Street.
Shirley allegedly admitted to circulating images and videos he knew to be child pornography.