ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (KWQC) – Prosecutors have filed 30 charges against a former Rock Island arts leader accused of possessing child sexual abuse material.
Benjamin T. Morris, 33, was arrested and is being held at the Rock Island County Jail pending arraignment and a detention hearing.
Morris is the former director of Quad City Arts, a nonprofit that promotes the arts through community programs and events.
Rock Island County State’s Attorney Dora Villarreal said Morris was arrested Monday night.
The case began with Predator Poachers Illinois, a volunteer organization that poses as underage decoys online to identify suspected child predators.
TV6 Investigates documented the group’s work on the Morris case in a story earlier this month.
“The interaction between our adults that are posing as children — we record everything,” said Aaron Snidle, head of Predator Poachers Illinois. “Keep track of it, then we go out and confront.”
Snidle said the group never makes first contact and never steers conversations in a sexual direction — discipline he says makes their evidence stand up.
He said his group’s investigations have led to 49 arrests across nine states, with 20 resulting in convictions totaling 190 years in prison.
This arrest makes it 50.
Predator Poachers said Morris contacted one of its decoys earlier this year. On June 26, the group tracked him to the Quad City Arts building in Rock Island, where Morris was then serving as executive director.
On the sidewalk outside, Snidle read transcripts of the alleged conversations aloud to Morris.
“This one says, ‘Hey, I’m younger than I said.’ And you said, ‘That’s even better.’ He says, ‘I’m 13.’ You said, ‘Perfect, as long as you’re into the older daddy types.’ He said, ‘What’s the youngest you would like?’ And you said, ’12, maybe I would mess with a 10-year-old.’”
Morris responded to Snidle at the scene.
“It’s more like role-playing,” Morris told Snidle. “The fun I have with it, I guess. The thrill of talking to someone.”
Rock Island Police confirmed they responded after being tipped off by Predator Poachers. Officers met with two members of the group, who provided video and audio recordings of their conversation with Morris, in which he allegedly admitted to possessing child pornography.
Morris was questioned and released.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for Morris’s phone. Detectives extracted data from the device and found photos and videos containing pornographic images of minors.
Detectives also found messages within the Telegram app dating back to March 16. During a short window on that date, Morris allegedly possessed and sent approximately 15 separate videos. Children in the videos appear to be under 13.
Because of the large volume of material found, prosecutors charged Morris only with content from March 16. Additional charges remain under review.
Detectives are working to identify the other Telegram user who allegedly exchanged videos with Morris. Investigators are also seeking to identify potential victims.
State’s Attorney Villarreal praised the Predator Poachers in a statement announcing the charges.
“We would like to extend our appreciation to ‘Predator Poachers, Illinois’ for their assistance in providing information to law enforcement that helped open this criminal investigation, and to Detective Jonathan Shappard of the Rock Island Police Department for all of his work to locate and preserve sufficient evidence for charges to be filed.”
Morris faces arraignment and a detention hearing. Prosecutors ask anyone with information about the case to contact Crimestoppers Quad Cities at 309-762-9500.
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