Dallas man sentenced to 17 1/2 years in federal prison following his guilty plea on child pornography charges

DALLAS — A local man was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 17 ½ years in federal prison following his November guilty plea on child pornography charges. This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

Marcus Morgan, 37, of Dallas, has been in custody since his arrest in August 2011 on related charges.

According to documents filed in the case, special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and officers with the Dallas Police Department, executed a search warrant at Morgan's residence Aug. 10, 2011. During this search they identified more than 600 child pornography images on his computer, and Morgan was subsequently arrested. Morgan admitted that he used file-sharing software to search for, find and share images of child pornography. He advised special agents that they would find thousands of images and videos of child pornography on his hard drive, and that some of those images portrayed sadistic and/or masochistic conduct. At his detention hearing, Morgan admitted that he has been "addicted" to child pornography since he was 15 years old.

HSI and the Dallas Police Department investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Miller, Northern District of Texas, prosecuted this case.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.