A Woodway man and his wife were indicted Wednesday on charges that they lied about the number of children they have during the man’s criminal trial for sexually abusing a child in February.

A McLennan County grand jury indicted Jeremy Allen Landers, a 33-year-old former welder, and his wife, Tristan Landers, a 32-year-old nurse, on aggravated perjury charges. Tristan Landers also was indicted for tampering with a witness.

Jeremy Landers was sentenced to 17 years in prison after a trial in Waco’s 19th State District Court in February. He was convicted of sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl.

Jeremy Landers was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday for allegedly perjuring himself during his February aggravated assault trial.

He also will be placed on felony probation for four years after his prison stint on his conviction at the same time for criminal solicitation of a minor in an incident involving a 12-year-old girl.

The new charges stem from the Landerses’ assertions during testimony and in related court documents that they have only one child together. Tristan Landers has three older children from a previous relationship.

A month after Jeremy Landers’ criminal trial, Tristan Landers was facing termination of her parental rights for her three children.

Testifying at a CPS hearing, she said she has two children with Jeremy Landers, reportedly contradicting their testimony from Jeremy Landers’ criminal trial.

Prosecutors Hilary LaBorde and J.R. Vicha said the witness-tampering charge against Tristan Landers arose from allegations she told the sexual assault victim in her husband’s criminal trial to lie and say that the abuse never happened.

Tristan Landers voluntarily terminated her parental rights to her three older children midway through a civil trial last month.

The children are staying with their paternal grandparents, officials said.

The Landerses also are being investigated on potential theft charges after they reportedly lied about being indigent to get a free copy of a transcript from Jeremy Landers’ criminal trial.

Later, they hired an appellate attorney to file his appeal and allegedly could be heard discussing in a tape-recorded telephone call from the McLennan County Jail about how they “screwed the county” to get the $8,000 trial transcript for free, court officials said.

LaBorde and Vicha said any potential sentence Jeremy Landers might get from the perjury charge could be “stacked” onto his sentence in the aggravated sexual assault case.

Both charges are third-degree felonies that carry possible sentences of from two to 10 years in prison.

Tristan Landers has no arrest record and would be eligible for probation, according to court records.

twitherspoon@wacotrib.com

757-5737

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