A longtime Texas school bus driver was sentenced to 30 years in prison after he confessed to downloading thousands of images of child sexual abuse material showing victims as young as infants.
Michael Paul Morrish, 78, pleaded guilty to possessing more than 500 visual depictions of child pornography, a first-degree felony, and was sentenced on July 29.
Morrish had worked as a bus driver for Navarro Independent School District for 13 years when he was arrested and charged in September 2023. He was immediately fired.
According to a statement issued this week by the Comal County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) led investigators to Morrish.
Authorities executed a search warrant at Morrish’s residence in New Braunfels and seized electronic devices and storage media.
The devices contained thousands of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, including victims as young as infants.
Morrish admitted to investigators that he had been viewing child sex abuse material since 2005—five years before he began working for Navarro ISD.
In just the past few years, hundreds of Texas school employees have been accused of sex crimes involving children, including possessing, producing, and distributing child sexual abuse material.
Thousands of educator sexual misconduct complaints have been reported to the state since the TEA began keeping organized records in 2021.
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