INDIANAPOLIS — A former Marion County corrections employee was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of possession of child sexual abuse material.
Cory Terry engaged in sexually explicit communications with an 11-year-old girl from Michigan.
The investigation began on July 20, 2022, after police in Michigan reached out to the FBI about messages a girl was receiving.
The FBI agent alleged in federal court documents that an account used by Terry had sexually explicit conversations with an 11-year-old girl and coerced the girl to send sexually explicit material. The conversations happened over chats, video calls and voice calls including on Discord and Snapchat.
A warrant showed the email account used for the social media platform used to contact the girl belonged to Terry. The IP address used also allegedly came back to Terry's home. Cellphone records showed Terry's number was contacting the 11-year-old's number, according to court documents. FBI agents found several cellphones with at least five sexually explicit videos of one of the victims. There were also more than 600 images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children as young as 3 years old.
Investigators were also able to identify a second victim, a 15-year-old girl. In that case, he used threats, coercion and enticement to get sexual images and videos of the girl.
“Pedophiles know that the applications and devices our children use every day give them access to groom and sexually exploit victims anywhere in the world,” said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana.
Terry was arrested by FBI agents in Indianapolis in 2022.
The judge also ordered that Terry be supervised for life following his release from federal prison and register as a sex offender.
Terry had been a corrections employee with the Marion County Sheriff's Office for two years at the time of his arrest.
