Records: Convicted Columbus sex offender admits to trading torture videos for child porn
A Columbus man who was already a registered sex offender pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to trading photos and videos of child torture and child murder on the dark web in exchange for child pornography.
Jeremiah Morrison, 38, entered guilty pleas in U.S. District Court in Columbus to charges of distributing child pornography, possessing child pornography and transporting obscene matter. A sentencing date has not yet been set in Morrison's case.
Morrison, who lived in the Hilltop neighborhood, had twice previously been convicted of crimes involving children, including a conviction in 2012 for filming an 11-year-old boy under the door of a bathroom stall at a Columbus Metropolitan library. Morrison had also been convicted in 2008 for a voyeurism offense, according to court records.
He served one year in prison for each of the convictions and had been ordered to register as a sexual offender for 25 years, according to court records.
In April 2023, the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children task force received a tip about Morrison uploading child pornography to the social media site Discord, according to federal court records.
A search warrant executed in June 2023 on Morrison's cellphone found 3,000 images and 900 videos of child sexual abuse material, the U.S. Attorney's office said. The images and videos showed children who ranged from infants to six years old, including one video involving the assault of a 3-month-old.
The U.S. Attorney's office said "numerous" videos depicting "torture, mutilation and deceased children" were found on Morrison's phone, including nude and dismembered bodies of children.
Morrison's cellphone also included messages that appeared to have been sent by Morrison, claiming he had drugged and assaulted multiple children he had access to and was grooming a child in the neighborhood. The messages, according to court records, included asking another user if they would be interested in helping Morrison drug and assault that minor.
Morrison had been arrested in September 2023 and remains in custody. He faces at least 15 years in federal prison, but could receive a maximum sentence of up to life in prison.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio sex offender admits trading torture videos for child porn, court records say
