Former Lane County paramedic sentenced to 11.5 years in child abuse case

A former Lane County paramedic who once responded to medical emergencies across the Willamette Valley was sentenced Monday to 11.5 years in prison after pleading guilty to child sexual abuse and child pornography charges.

Larry Merrill Jr. admitted to four counts of first-degree child sexual abuse and 10 counts of encouraging child sex abuse under a plea deal that merged two separate cases. The investigation began after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent a CyberTipline report to Eugene police, who later searched devices tied to Merrill and found homemade videos, including footage from a hidden camera inside a smoke detector in his home.

Police also served search warrants on Merrill’s vehicle and residence in northeast Eugene, according to earlier reporting. Merrill was 45 at the time of his arrest, and additional charges were pending before the plea agreement was reached.

The case carries particular weight in Lane County because Merrill had worked for Lane Fire Authority, an agency that says it provides fire, life safety and emergency medical services to about 31,000 residents across 282 square miles. The department says it handles roughly 7,300 to 7,400 emergency calls a year, and about 81% of them are EMS-related, placing paramedics and firefighters in direct contact with families during some of the most vulnerable moments in their lives.

Lane Fire Authority said Merrill worked there from 2007 until 2018, when he was terminated after multiple allegations of inappropriate behavior toward female coworkers. He later sued the agency over his firing, and a Ninth Circuit panel affirmed summary judgment for the defendants in 2023. That history is likely to intensify scrutiny of employer oversight and reporting safeguards around a first responder whose job depended on public trust.

The case also underscores how online exploitation investigations move from a tip to a prison sentence. The CyberTipline report triggered Eugene police involvement, and the investigation expanded after searches of Merrill’s devices uncovered the hidden-camera recordings. The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, created in 1998, now links more than 5,400 federal, state and local agencies in cases like this one.