NY man charged with sending obscene matter to minor

Dave Rogers, The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass.
·2 min read

May 18—NEWBURY — A New York man posted $1,500 cash bail Monday in Newburyport District Court after being charged with two counts of sending obscene matter to a minor and a single count of distributing obscene matter.

Morgan Tefft, 30, of Marathon, New York, appeared in court accompanied by his attorney after Newbury police filed a complaint. Tefft may also be charged with similar offenses by Salisbury police, according to court records.

In addition to posting bail, Tefft must not use the internet except for legal, medical or work reasons and must not commit any new offenses. He is due back in court June 29.

In both communities, police posed as teenage girls on chat applications to uncover alleged instances of sexual exploitation of children.

Tefft first made contact with Newbury police Detective Aaron Wojtkowski on Oct. 26 through Kik Messenger, a site "used by online offenders to groom children for the self-production of illicit images."

Tefft quickly asked Wojtkowski for a photo of his undercover persona, a request the detective granted.

"The target user stated that he was 20 years of age. At this time I clearly indicated that the UC (undercover) persona was a 13-year-old child, and asked if the age of the UC was OK with him. The target user responded 'yea, I'm fine with it,'" Wojtkowski wrote in his report.

Tefft and Wojtkowski continued chatting and a day later, Tefft sent a photo of a man's genitals to Wojtkowski.

Wojtkowski wrote that online offenders will send a nude photo, hoping the minor reciprocates.

Tefft became frustrated that despite sending "her" a naughty photo, none would be sent in return.

In mid-November, Tefft sent another photo of a man's genitals. That prompted Wojtkowski to ask Tefft for his phone number so they could text. Tefft sent the detective his phone number, allowing Wojtkowski to track him down.

Wojtkowski later obtained a search warrant for Tefft's Kik account. On April 27, Tefft turned himself in to New York State Police. State police seized his cell phone and found "child sex abuse content," the detective wrote in his report.

In February, Wojtkowski learned Tefft had made contact with a Salisbury police detective also posing as a teenage girl.

"Sgt. (Keith) Forget through his investigation established probable cause for a like offense related to this investigation," Wojtkowski wrote in his report.

Dave Rogers is a staff writer with The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.

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