Ex-Centre County journalist accused of sex crimes to plead guilty, faces decade in prison

A former Centre County journalist accused of soliciting sex with underage girls intends to plead guilty to a federal charge that carries a lengthy prison sentence.

Christopher Z. Morelli, 54, of Spring Township, is expected to formally plead guilty to one count of attempted enticement of a minor, according to a plea agreement made public Tuesday. He is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.

It’s not yet known when Morelli is expected to enter his plea. A message was left Wednesday with defense lawyer James E. DePasquale.

A document filed Tuesday by federal prosecutors did not include many details of the allegations against Morelli, but they appear similar to the ones that initially landed him in jail last winter.

He was arrested by township police in December for repeatedly sending sexually explicit messages to an undercover FBI agent who posed as a 14-year-old girl.

Morelli made multiple attempts to meet with the phony teen for sexually activity, sent lewd images of himself and attempted to solicit sexual images, the township police detective wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.

After he posted $250,000 bail through a bondsman, he was arrested again about two weeks later on felony charges that accused him of soliciting sex with a 14-year-old girl he met through coaching a 2011 youth soccer team.

The woman told police she came forward with the allegations after reading news reports of his initial arrest.

Morelli provided the girl and her friend alcohol in 2011 while they went swimming at his house when no one else was home, police wrote. He was 42 at the time.

The woman said he began messaging her a month later and asked about her sexual experience and described sexual acts he hoped to do with her, police wrote. After confirming her age, police said Morelli responded with a message that read “so young.”

The child stopped talking to Morelli after the conversations became “even more inappropriate,” police wrote.

He was denied bail and has been incarcerated since January at the Centre County Correctional Facility. It was not immediately clear if the prosecution of Morelli in Centre County would continue; a message was left Wednesday with Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna.

At the time of his December arrest, Morelli worked as the managing editor of the Centre County Gazette. He was named to the position in June 2023.

He previously worked as a reporter or editor at publications across Pennsylvania, including at the Centre Daily Times in the late 1990s.