Manchester Resident Pleads Guilty to Producing Child Pornograph

            CONCORD - United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today that Debra Kerouac, 28, of Manchester, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography.

            A sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 20, 2018.   Under the terms of a plea agreement, which is subject to review and approval by the court, Kerouac will serve 25 years in prison and remain under supervised release for 20 years after she is released from prison.

            According to documents filed in the case and statements made at the change of plea hearing, sometime before May 24, 2017, Kerouac produced visual depictions of a minor female engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  Kerouac used a cellular phone to produce the images.  Kerouac’s activities were discovered based on a lead from a case investigated by the FBI in Duluth, Minnesota.  A Duluth FBI agent notified the Bedford office of the FBI and an arrest warrant and search warrant were executed on May 24, 2017 in Manchester.

            “Few crimes are as reprehensible as the sexual exploitation of a child,” said U.S. Attorney Murray. “The impact of such acts on the child, family members, and those close to them may be severe and long-lasting. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting our children and making our community safer by prosecuting those who produce child pornography.”

            “The production of child pornography is an assault against the most vulnerable members of our society, and with today's plea, Ms. Kerouac is accepting responsibility for preying on and exploiting her young victim,” said Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Boston Division. “The FBI is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to identify and apprehend predators like her who carry out these heinous crimes.”  

            The FBI and the Manchester Police Department participated in the investigation of this case.  Staff from the Hillsborough County Child Advocacy Center assisted in the case. Assistant United States Attorneys Donald A. Feith and Helen White Fitzgibbon prosecuted the case.