A 21-year-old Missouri man who was arrested last year after allegedly exchanging sexually explicit photos and messages with a Eufaula high school student pled guilty last week.

Ryan Michael Catron, of Camdenton, Mo., was sentenced on Jan. 15 by Associate District Judge Brendon Bridges to 20 years in prison on the charge of “procuring, producing, distributing and possession of juvenile pornography.”

Catron will serve the first five of the 20-year sentence, with 15 years suspended.

Upon release, he will serve two years on parole probation and must register as a sex offender.

Catron has been in jail since his arrest on May 6, 2024. He was given credit for time served.

A warrant was issued for the suspect on March 21, 2024, after Eufaula Police Investigator Mike Harris, a school resource officer, received a call from the school administrator’s office at the high school of a female student that Catron had called at the school claiming to be the student’s husband and was attempting to “door dash’ food to her.

Upon further investigation it was learned that the suspect and the student had exchanged the sexually explicit photos and messages via cell phones, Harris said in a probable cause affidavit.