Nebraska man sentenced to 156 months for possessing child pornography

LINCOLN, Neb. — Bryan Morse, 61, of Chadron, Nebraska, was sentenced Friday in Lincoln for possession of child pornography. United States District Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Morse to 156 months’ imprisonment following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) probe. HSI Special Agent in Charge Katherine Greer and United States Attorney Jan Sharp made the announcement.

There is no parole in the federal system. Upon his release from prison, Morse will begin a 20-year term of supervised release.

Morse received an enhanced sentence because he had two prior convictions relating to the sexual abuse of children. In January 1988, Morse was convicted of sexual assault on a child. He was later convicted of enticement of a child in April 2001.

HSI received a tip from a social media company, Kik, that a Kik account was involved with sharing child pornography. Another tip was provided to law enforcement about child pornography being traded over Skype. Both tips led agents to Morse. Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for his residence in Chadron. The warrant was executed on Dec. 18, 2019. During the execution of the warrant, several electronic devices were seized.

Morse was home at the time when the search warrant was executed. Morse told the agents that he used chat rooms to trade child pornography. He also said law enforcement that child pornography would be found on the seized devices. When the devices were examined, the agents did in fact find numerous photographs and videos depicting child pornography.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and this case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

HSI is a directorate of ICE and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 Special Agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Learn more about HSI’s fight against child exploitation @HSIKansasCity.