Former Vandy med student takes deal in child porn case

A former Vanderbilt University medical student was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday for downloading hundreds of images of child pornography.

Jeffrey Ewers, 29, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor involving more than 100 images. Criminal Court Judge Cheryl Blackburn sentenced Ewers, according to terms of a plea agreement, to two years in prison and 10 years of probation. He must register as a sex offender.

Ewers will likely be released in November 2016 because he gets credit for time already served. He shook hands with his attorney, Peter Strianse, before being led away to be booked in jail Thursday. His parents watched from the front row of the courtroom.

Assistant District Attorney Chad Butler said in September 2010, employees at Nashville's Cafe Coco opened a digital storage device that had been left behind by a customer and found images of child pornography and Ewers' schoolwork.

"Detective (Chad) Gish found massive amounts of child pornography, somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 images," Butler said. Some of the images were of men raping toddlers, Butler said.

Ewers was charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, which each carry an eight- to 12-year prison sentence.

Strianse said the plea deal was a fair resolution. He said medical experts would have shown during trial that Ewers was misdiagnosed at a young age and succumbed to the effects of Adderall, which is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

"They had concluded he had ADHD, and that caused complications for him and caused him to act in ways I don't think he would have acted in," the attorney said. "In many ways it was an involuntary intoxication on the amphetamines."

Ewers had been set for trial June 8. According to the plea agreement, the judge can impose suspended sentences of six years on each count if Ewers violates terms of his probation after his release.

Reach Stacey Barchenger at 615-726-8968 or on Twitter @sbarchenger.