A 45-year-old Eugene man was sentenced Monday, April 20, to more than 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a girl under 14 years old.

Larry Wayne Merrill Jr. pleaded guilty Monday in Lane County Circuit Court to four counts of first-degree sexual abuse. 

Merrill also pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree encouraging child sexual abuse, a charge that can involve duplicating or exchanging a visual recording of sexually explicit conduct involving a child.

Lane County Circuit Court Judge Bradley Cascagnette sentenced Merrill to 140 months in prison on the sexual abuse charges. 

As part of plea negotiations, prosecutors agreed to dismiss two counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct and also have Merrill’s sentence for encouraging child sex abuse run alongside his sentence in the abuse case.