Bellevue Man Sentenced for Possessing Child Pornography

PITTSBURGH, PA – A suburban Pittsburgh resident has been sentenced in federal court to four years’ (48 months’) imprisonment and 10 years of supervised release on his conviction of possession of child pornography, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on Monday on Christopher Morrison, 26, of Bellevue, Pennsylvania.

According to information presented to the court, on June 20, 2018, Adams Township Police officers seized Morrison’s cellular phone during a narcotics related traffic stop. Upon extracting the contents of the phone, officers observed multiple images of suspected child pornography. The Federal Bureau of Investigation forensically examined the phone, and confirmed that Morrison possessed approximately 700 images and 11 videos that depicted the sexual exploitation of a minor, and multiple screen captures of the defendant browsing child pornography. The court was further informed that some of pornography depicted minors under the age of 12 years, as well as minors who were bound at the ankles with their mouths duct-taped.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Adams Township Police Department conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Morrison.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.