Spring Township police on Wednesday arrested a local journalist accused of sending sexually explicit messages to and attempting to arrange meetings with an undercover FBI agent he believed was a 14-year-old girl.
Christopher Z. Morelli, 54, of Pleasant Gap, is charged with one felony count each of unlawful contact with a minor – sexual offenses and criminal use of a communication facility.
The charges stemmed from an investigation by the FBI Pittsburgh Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force. According to an affidavit of probable cause, Morelli began communicating with the undercover agent, who identified themselves as a 14-year-old girl in the eighth grade, in July 2022 through private messages on a social media application, and later through text messages.
He identified himself to the “teen” as a journalist working near State College, police wrote.
Morelli has most recently been editor of the Centre County Gazette since June. A representative of the Gazette’s parent company, Barash Media, said Morelli has been suspended pending further information. (StateCollege.com has a content-sharing partnership with Barash publications, including the Gazette. The two companies are separately owned and operated.)
Morelli allegedly made multiple attempts to meet with the agent he believed to be a teen for sexual activity, engaged in explicit conversations and attempted to solicit sexual images.
He told the agent it would be a “turn on” for her to send photos, suggested a photo shoot at a hotel during which they could engage in potential sexual acts and offered to buy her “sexy things,” police wrote.
During the conversations Morelli allegedly expressed a preference for younger women, acknowledged he was communicating with a 14-year-old and wrote “You are the youngest person I’ve talked to.”
The communications continued until December 2023, when he again suggested they meet up near State College, according to the complaint.
Morelli was arraigned by District Judge Gregory Koehle and posted $250,000 bail on Wednesday afternoon.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 3.
