Butte County man sentenced to prison for possessing child porn 

ARCO — A 30-year-old Butte County man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing child porn. 

Theodore Scott Morin was charged with five counts of possessing child sexually exploitative material last year in September. 

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Morin pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a child. He signed a plea agreement which ultimately dismissed some of the charges, court records show. 

During his sentencing that happened earlier in June, Deputy Attorney General Ken Robins recommended that Morin receive a ten-year prison sentence with three years fixed and seven years indeterminate, according to a news release from the Office of the Attorney General. 

Judge Darren Simpson agreed with the state’s recommendation and ordered Morin to serve three years fixed and seven years indeterminate. Morin will have to also register as a sex offender, the release said. 

“No prison sentence could ever restore the childhood innocence stolen from these young victims,” said Attorney General Raúl Labrador in the release. “But we will always fight to put predators and abusers behind bars where they can’t harm another child.”

This case was investigated by the Attorney General’s ICAC Unit.

Background

A detective from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office stated that on Sept. 12, an IP address linked to a trailer home in Arco connected to a network known for hosting child sexual abuse material.

Detectives were able to find multiple folders of child pornography videos connected to the server that were titled with explicit sexual terms related to pedophilia. According to court documents, detectives found 13 images showing children and infants as young as six months old, both girls and boys, being sexually abused and raped by adults.

After tracking the IP address to the trailer home in Arco, detectives conducted surveillance on the home. In the process, they learned three men and one woman lived there.

Detectives were also able to pick up a wifi-signal from the home named “House of Horrors.”

On Sept. 28, a search warrant was executed on the property after detectives learned Morin lived on the property in a dark-colored van. Detectives interviewed Morin, who admitted using an app to download images of child sexual abuse material.

While executing the search warrant, forensic examiners found dozens more images and videos of child pornography, including bestiality with children.

The Butte County Sheriff’s Office, Madison County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations all assisted the ICAC Unit with the arrest.