Billings sex offender back in court with child sex abuse charge

Mar. 24—A Billings man previously sentenced for accepting child sex abuse material is once again in court on pedophile charges.

Joshua Allen Morgan, 39, pleaded not guilty Friday in Yellowstone County District Court to one count of sexual abuse of children. County prosecutors alleged he tried enticing two people he thought were underage girls into meeting for sex. District Judge Ashley Harada set Morgan's bond at $150,000.

From late February through mid-March, according to court documents, Morgan started exchanging messages with two people online he believed were underage girls. During their conversations, he allegedly tried to entice the two into sneaking out of their homes and meeting in person. When the two reminded Morgan they were only 12 years old, court documents said, he responded by encouraging them to say they were "17 or 18," if asked.

"Don't ever tell me ur real age again," he allegedly wrote to them. "It's my 1 rule. If u don't wanna do it, we don't need to hang."

While asking for nude and semi-nude pictures from the people he thought were children, court documents said, Morgan sent them naked photos of himself.

On March 22, prosecutors alleged Morgan agreed to meet one of them in the West End of Billings. When he reached the location, court documents said, agents with the FBI and Montana Division of Criminal Investigation arrested Morgan. Morgan, according to court documents, declined to speak with investigators, and was booked into Yellowstone County Detention Facility the same day.

Morgan has a criminal history dating back to 2003, Prosecutor Marty Lambert said in court Friday, including one federal count of accepting child pornography. In 2012, the Gazette previously reported, a U.S. District Court judge sentenced Morgan to 10 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of federal supervision. Morgan admitted to coercing a 15-year-old girl in Madison County into sending him lewd photos via social media. He was 27 years old at the time.

According to court records, Morgan left prison in January 2021 and began federal supervision. He violated the conditions of his supervision on at least two occasions since then. In June 2022, he returned to custody after he admitted to being terminated from sex offender treatment and using an unapproved internet device.

In a letter written to presiding U.S. District Court Judge Dana L. Christensen that same month, Morgan asked her to place him in the custody of a pre-release program rather than sending him back to federal prison.

"Every time I start to do good in life, I choke," he wrote. "I've observed that over my life that if I'm placed in a structured environment I am more able to get my crap together."

Judge Christensen ordered him to another 10 months in prison at an Illinois facility, court documents said.

If convicted of child sex abuse in Yellowstone County District Court, Morgan could be sentenced up to 100 years in prison without the possibility of parole for the first 25 years. Should he make bond, Judge Harada ordered that Morgan be monitored by GPS.

On Wednesday, the same day Morgan was arrested, a federal judge sentenced a Billings man to nearly six years in prison for trying to arrange for sex with someone he thought was a child. Kyle Ray Schwindt, 22, he traveled to a spot in Billings where he believed he was meeting with a 13-year-old for a sexual encounter, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

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