A federal grand jury on Friday returned a two-count indictment against a 33-year-old Fairfield man, charging him with sexual exploitation of a child and receipt of visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, a U.S. Department of Justice official said.
Charges against Trevor Clayton Morgan were unsealed after his arrest on May 9, and he made his first court appearance the following day, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said in a press statement.
According to court documents, in April 2023 Morgan persuaded a minor victim to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a video recording. In December, Morgan also knowingly received one or more visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, commonly called “kiddie porn.”
The allegations stem from an investigation by Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office, United States Homeland Security Investigations, the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force/Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Morgan remains without bail in Sacramento County Jail.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the DOJ to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, Talbert noted in the prepared statement.
Assistant United States Attorney Christina McCall leads the prosecution.
If convicted of sexual exploitation of a child, Morgan faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison (with a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years), a lifetime of supervised release, restitution and a $250,000 fine.
If convicted of receiving kiddie porn, Morgan faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison (with a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years), a lifetime of supervised release, plus restitution and a fine.
Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court and federal sentencing guidelines, said Talbert, who leads the DOJ’s Eastern District of California.