WILLIAMSPORT — Christopher Z. Morelli, a former Centre County journalist who was arrested in the winter of 2023 for allegedly sending sexual messages to an FBI agent he believed to be a teenage girl has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for the crime.
Morelli, 55, of Pleasant Gap, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann on Thursday, Jan. 23. Brann recommended that Morelli serve the time in a federal prison near Pittsburgh and ordered that he be under a supervised release for five years after his time is served in addition to registering as a sex offender.
Morelli entered into a plea agreement on the federal charges in August 2024, waiving an indictment by a grand jury. The agreement carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, according to court records.
Morelli was first arrested on Dec. 20, 2023. He was accused of “unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a telecommunications facility,” according to Spring Township police. The arrest followed an undercover investigation involving the local police department and the FBI.
Morelli engaged in messaging online with an FBI agent he believed to be a 14-year-old girl starting in July 2022, attempting to meet with the teen, engaging in sexual conversation and soliciting explicit pictures over about 18 months, according to the criminal complaint.
At the time of his first arrest, he posted bail of $250,000. He was arrested again by Spring Township police on the morning of Jan. 5, 2024, for new charges which accused Morelli of sending sexual messages and providing alcohol to a 14-year-old girl from the Bellefonte area in 2011.
The charges against Morelli included “solicitation to commit the crime of statutory sexual assault and corruption of minors,” as stated in the criminal complaint.
According to the affidavit filed by Spring Township police, the victim came forward with the accusations after learning of Morelli’s arrest in December 2023. The victim was a member of a youth soccer team coached by Morelli in 2011.
Morelli was denied bail after his second arrest and has been held in prison since.
District Attorney Bernie Cantorna formerly said in January 2024, after Morelli waived his preliminary hearings, that his office was “expecting federal charges” to be filed against Morelli.
Morelli is a former Centre County journalist, most recently with The Centre County Gazette, though no longer employed by the publication.
