Rafael A. Olmeda, Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. –
A former Boy Scouts leader surrendered in a Broward courtroom Monday to begin serving a prison sentence for 100 counts of possession of child pornography.
Gary Morano, 67, was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty last month before Broward Circuit Judge Jeffrey Levenson. Morano was allowed to remain free for a month after his plea, but if he had not surrendered, his agreement with Assistant State Attorney Joseph Zager would have been nullified and he would have faced more than a century behind bars.
After his four-year prison term is up, Morano will serve 12 years of sex-offender probation. He will not be allowed to be with anyone under the age of 18 without supervision. An exception was made for his own underage children — he has three, his lawyer told the judge.
Morano, then a scout leader and assistant scout master for Troop 183 in Davie, was arrested in July 2010 when child porn images were found on his computer. None of the children depicted in the images was associated with the Boy Scouts. He volunteered for the organization starting in March 2008.
Sheriff’s detectives working with the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force came across information regarding the pornographic images and traced the files to a computer and portable hard drive on rental property Morano owns in Dania Beach with his wife, officials said at the time of his arrest.
The images featured children between the ages of 6 and 10.
Morano told investigators at the time that he was the only person who used that computer and that he was aware he had child pornography files on his hard drive.
Morano entered his guilty plea as jury selection was about to begin on his case. His lawyer, Alex Arreaza, maintained his client’s innocence but said it was in Morano’s best interest to take the deal rather than risk losing at trial.
Where is the picture of the person who committed this crime?