Christian college dean had more than 500 pictures, videos of child porn, feds say
The former assistant dean of a Christian college in Virginia was sentenced to prison after he was found with child pornography, federal prosecutors say.
Robert Morris was sentenced to six years after he pleaded guilty to “receiving images of child sexual abuse material,” according to a Dec. 16 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Prosecutors said that Morris, 37, had more than 500 pictures and videos that showed the sexual abuse of minors, with some files depicting infants.
Morris’ lawyer did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Dec. 19.
In response to a Dec. 19 request for comment, a spokesperson with Wave Leadership College told McClatchy News on Dec. 22 that Morris was never a paid employee with the school.
“After a clean background check, he did volunteer for two months and administratively assist the Dean of Students,” the spokesperson said.
McClatchy News reached out to the Department of Justice for clarification about Morris’ role and is awaiting a response.
In December 2021, the Virginia Beach Police Department was conducting an undercover investigation when detectives downloaded 547 files of child pornography from a “peer-to-peer sharing program,” according to court documents. The files were then traced to Morris’ IP address.
Officers conducted a search of Morris’ Virginia Beach home on Feb. 8, 2022. After the search, Morris told investigators that he had been looking at child pornography for about three months, court documents say.
The Department of Homeland Security conducted a review of Morris’ laptop and found 22 videos and five images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct as well as “1,561 child erotica images and 13 child erotica videos,” documents show. Morris told officers that he had files showing bestiality and sado-masochistic conduct.
At the time of his arrest, Morris was the assistant dean at Wave Leadership College, a two-year Christian college in Virginia Beach, prosecutors said. According to the college’s website, the school closed in July 2022.
Before working for the school, Morris was released from the United States Navy for “misconduct, including sexual harassment,” prosecutors said.
This story was originally published December 19, 2022 at 11:33 AM with the headline "Christian college dean had more than 500 pictures, videos of child porn, feds say."
