Deputy charged with child porn also photographed women’s butts in Tennessee, feds say
A law enforcement officer in Tennessee caught watching child pornography on a laptop he shared with his wife is staring down a lengthy prison sentence, federal prosecutors said Monday.
Matthew Berry, a 42-year-old former deputy with the Crockett County Sheriff’s Office, was sentenced Friday to over 18 years in prison — more than double what his defense attorneys had sought, court documents show. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Western Tennessee, Berry is also accused of secretly photographing female’s butts in public, including those of minors.
A public defender appointed to represent Berry did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Tuesday.
In sentencing documents submitted to the court in November, the defense attorney asked Berry be given no more than seven years in prison with three years of supervised release.
“Prior to this incident Matthew has lived a law-abiding life and served the public throughout his professional career as a law enforcement agent,” his defense attorney said. “Matthew maintained a spotless record during his time in law enforcement.”
Berry started as a corrections officer in Hardeman County, Tennessee, before becoming an officer with the Brownsville Police Department, according to court documents. After three years, he moved to the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department followed by a “short stint” with the Halls Police Department.
Berry then became a deputy in Crockett County, about 80 miles northeast of Memphis.
While he was working there, an FBI agent who investigated the case said an undercover detective in Indiana saw someone making child pornography available online through a file sharing network. He traced the downloads to an IP address in Bells, Tennessee.
The agent reportedly conducted surveillance at the house over several months in 2019 and noticed a Dodge Ram marked with the “Crockett County Sheriff” was parked in the driveway. He said he spoke with the sheriff, who confirmed Berry worked for him.
When investigators executed a search warrant at the house, Berry reportedly told them he had watched child pornography “for a long time.”
“Berry explained that when no one was home, he would seek out the illicit images, look at them, and then delete them,” the FBI agent said. “Berry asserted that he did not know that while he was looking at the images, his computer made the images available to share with others. Berry used a laptop that he shared with his wife to view the child pornography.”
It wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday how investigators discovered he had taken pictures of women’s butts without their knowledge.
But prosecutors filed a criminal complaint based on the agent’s report in September 2019. Court documents show Berry was arrested and released a few weeks later to a behavioral health center. He was later released from the facility into his father’s custody.
He pleaded guilty last year to two counts of receipt and possession of child pornography.
Berry was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal after sentencing, court filings show. The judge also ordered he be housed at a prison as close to West Tennessee as possible.
