Northampton County Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Offense

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Mark A. Morella Jr., 40, of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty before United States District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl on Monday to a one-count superseding information charging him with attempted possession of child pornography.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on October 8 and faces a maximum possible term of 10 years in prison, a mandatory minimum of five years' supervised release up to a lifetime of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000, and additional financial obligations.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit projectsafechildhood.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Colonial Regional Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jeffrey Dimmig, Rosalynda M. Michetti, and John Boscia.