Centre County journalist arrested as part of undercover child sexual exploitation probe
A Centre County journalist was arrested Wednesday on felony charges that accused him of attempting to have sexual contact with someone he believed to be an underage girl.
Christopher Z. Morelli, 54, of Spring Township, repeatedly attempted to engage in sexual activity with an undercover FBI agent who posed as a 14-year-old girl, township police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
The managing editor of the Centre County Gazette was accused of sending lewd images of himself and soliciting sexually explicit images from someone he believed to be an underage girl, the township police detective wrote.
Centre County Gazette General Manager Tiara Snare wrote in a statement that the company learned from police Wednesday that Morelli was charged with “away from work behavior, not related to his employment.” He has been placed on indefinite suspension, she wrote. No defense lawyer was listed.
Sexually explicit text messages between Morelli and the undercover FBI agent began in July 2022 and continued until his arrest, police wrote. The charging document outlined at least a dozen lewd conversations between Morelli and investigators.
During one conversation, Morelli’s comments confirmed he understood he was speaking with someone who was underage, police wrote. “You are the youngest person I’ve talked to,” investigators quoted him as saying.
Morelli was charged with one felony count each of unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication facility.
He was arraigned by District Judge Gregory Koehle, who set bail at $250,000. Morelli was released from the Centre County Correctional Facility after he obtained bail through a bondsman.
The longtime local journalist was named managing editor of the Centre County Gazette in June. He previously worked as a reporter or editor at publications across Pennsylvania, including at the CDT in the late 1990s.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 3.
This story was originally published December 20, 2023 at 1:24 PM.