A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted one of four men charged in a child sexual abuse and human trafficking case in Centre County.
Morris W. Reese, 65, of Blair County, is now facing a federal charge of conspiracy to produce child pornography. He is scheduled for arraignment in the U.S. District Court for Middle District of Pennsylvania on Monday at the federal courthouse in Williamsport.
Reese and three other men — Samuel C. Friday, Michael H. Woomer and James S. Kobuck — were arrested in November and December on charges accusing them of sexually abusing teenage girls and recording the encounters for years inside a Centre County home.
None of the other three have been indicted, and Centre County First Assistant District Attorney Josh Andrews said conversations about any further federal indictments in the case are ongoing.
All four men are currently awaiting trial in Centre County. Andrews said Reese’s local prosecution, which encompasses are greater extent of charges, will continue in parallel with the federal case.
Justice Department attorneys have requested that Reese remain in federal custody.
The federal indictment alleges that Reese conspired with others to produce sexually explicit images involving minors “using materials that had been mailed, shipped, and transported in interstate and foreign commerce.”
Centre County prosecutors say that the men paid money to and pressured multiple teenage girls, most from neighboring Blair County, to engage in sexual activity with them in the basement of Friday’s Taylor Township home.
Acting on multiple tips in November, state police at Rockview found numerous digital and analog videos and photos of juveniles engaged in sexual acts in Friday’s basement, according to affidavits of probable cause. Andrews said at the time that investigators also discovered a bed, provocative outfits, a wall-mounted digital camera and sex toys.
Based on what they say is voluminous evidence collected from Friday’s basement, prosecutors believe the activity may have been occurring since the 1990s.
Multiple witnesses told investigators that Friday and Reese enticed victims with money and entertainment and transported them to Friday’s home, where the men propositioned them to perform sexual acts, according to the affidavits.
In an interview with police after his arrest, Friday admitted to taking nude photographs of a juvenile stepping out of the shower and that he had “some sexual involvement” with the same girl, according to an affidavit. He “indicated that the juvenile female requested sexual acts from him possibly in exchange for money,” police wrote.
Friday, 68, who prosecutors have characterized as the ringleader of the group, is charged with two counts of trafficking in individuals, two counts of patronizing victims of human trafficking and 20 counts related to producing and possessing child sexual abuse material. All of the charges are felonies.
Reese is charged with two counts each of trafficking in individuals and patronizing victims of human trafficking and 10 counts related to child sexual abuse material.
Woomer, 66, of Taylor Township, is charged with one count of patronizing a victim of human trafficking and 10 counts related to child sexual abuse material.
Kobuck, 61, of Blair County was charged in December with patronizing a victim of sexual servitude and filming a sexual act with a child.
Reese and Kobuck are next scheduled to appear in Centre County Court for pre-trial conferences on July 13. Friday and Kobuck both have pre-trial conferences scheduled for July 17.
All but Kobuck, who posted $50,000 bail, are currently detained at the Centre County Correctional Facility.
