COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus sex offender pleaded guilty Friday to child sexual abuse material charges after he admitted to obtaining obscene material from the dark web, according to U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker.
Jeremiah Morrison, 38, pleaded guilty to distributing child sexual abuse images, possessing child sexual abuse images and transporting obscene matter.
The attorney's office said that Morrison admitted in court that he obtained images and videos depicting child torture, mutilation and murder from the dark web and traded them for child sex abuse images and videos.
He faces a sentence of at least 15 years to life in prison.
Morrison was previously convicted twice of crimes against children, including a 2012 conviction for filming an 11-year-old boy under a bathroom stall at the Columbus Metropolitan Library.
The Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received information in April 2023 related to Morrison uploading child pornography.
While executing a search warrant in June 2023, investigators discovered Morrison’s cellphone contained 3,000 images and 900 videos of child sexual abuse material. The images and videos depicted the sexual assault of infants and children ages 0 to 6 years old.
In addition to the child sexual abuse material recovered on the device, investigators also discovered numerous images and videos depicting torture, mutilation and deceased children.
Morrison was arrested in September 2023 and has remained in custody since.