Kevin Murphy, Leader Correspondent
A Suring man sentenced in Shawano County last summer to five years in prison for attempted child enticement had six years added to his incarceration Friday in federal court for possessing child pornography.
Christopher F. Morley, 49, posted a Craigslist ad seeking a “sexy daughter,” which led to an online chat in October 2015 with a Shawano County sheriff deputy who was impersonating a female minor. Morley was arrested when he arrived at a pre-arranged location expecting to meet a 15-year-old-year girl, according to court documents.
Morley was one of more than a dozen area men prosecuted for child sex offenses by an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
According to other court documents:
A sheriff’s detective contacted Morley’s wife about her husband’s arrest and she later told the detective that she had found sexually explicit images of minors on Morley’s computer.
She and Morley consented to a search of Morley’s computers, external drives and storage devices. The search revealed hundreds of child pornography images and stories of adult male sex encounters with 10- to 14-year-old girls. Morley’s child pornography collection dated to at least 1998 when he lived in Illinois, according to authorities.
Morley pleaded no contest in April in Shawano County Circuit Court to use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime. Circuit Judge William Kussel Jr. sentenced him in June to five years in prison followed by 12 years supervised release.
Morley was indicted in federal court in August on the child pornography possession charge and pleaded guilty in November.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Roach and Morley’s attorney, Thomas Phillip, jointly recommended that Morley serve a three-year sentence consecutive to his state sentence.
Roach said Friday that he sought a three-year sentence because of the extensive size of Morley’s child pornography collection and the length of time he collected the material.
“Also, the defendant’s admission’s that he had sexual attraction at least to images (of teen and pre-teen girls),” Roach said.
Before they were seized, Morley’s computers showed he had about 3,200 images the statutes classify as “child erotica” and about 400 sexually explicit images, Roach said.
“They spent a lot on organizing his collection,” Roach added.
Griesbach viewed the case as “more than just a passive possession of pornography,” Roach said.
Instead, it was one with a “pattern and history” that showed, based on the child enticement state case, Morley had a more active interest in child pornography that made him a danger to the community, Roach said.
Griesbach also ordered Morley’s computers, storage devices and any unlawful images he possessed to be forfeited and that Morley be placed on lifetime supervision after being released from prison.
Morley is an inmate at the Redgranite Correctional Institution, according to online court records.