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A rural Carthage man pleaded guilty Monday in Jasper County Circuit Court to attempted possession of child pornography.
Daniel L. Morris, 23, changed his plea to guilty in a plea deal with the Jasper County prosecutor’s office. The deal would limit the prison sentence he might be assessed to no more than five years. He was facing up to seven years for a conviction.
Circuit Judge David Dally delayed formal action on the plea bargain and ordered the completion of a sentencing-assessment report. The judge set the defendant’s sentencing hearing for July 9.
Morris was charged in July 2010 after an investigation by Detective Chip Root of the Joplin Police Department. A friend of the defendant’s had reported to police in August 2009 that he had found images and videos of child pornography on his desktop computer after letting Morris borrow it for a couple of months.
Police found that child-porn videos had been downloaded during the time frame when the computer had been on loan to the defendant. During an interview of Morris, he admitted to downloading the material using file-sharing software, an affidavit states.
