A specialist sniffer dog then uncovered a hidden laptop under his kitchen counter, and officers found an SD card containing hundreds of indecent images of children
The vile acts of a paedophile were uncovered when a police sniffer dog located a concealed laptop and officers discovered an SD card hidden under a carpet.
Police had visited the home of convicted sex offender Joey Morgan after undercover officers spotted him using a laptop in a hotel’s public area, which he had not registered.
At the residence, a specialist sniffer dog detected the covert laptop stashed beneath the kitchen counter, hidden by a detachable wooden plinth. Police also seized a memory card containing hundreds of indecent images of children, which had been secreted under a carpet.
Police have labelled 53-year-old Morgan as a “dangerous individual” who disregards court orders intended to supervise and regulate his behaviour.
Cardiff Magistrates Court was informed that in 2019 Morgan was found guilty of creating indecent images of children and was subjected to indefinite notification requirements – commonly referred to as the sex offenders register – and a sexual harm prevention order or SHPO.
One of the conditions of the SHPO is that the defendant is forbidden from possessing any devices for internet use or data storage unless he informs the police within three days of acquisition.
The court was told that on July 6 this year, undercover police officers observed Morgan in the public area of a Llandrindod Wells hotel utilising a black Acer laptop which had not been registered with the police, reports Wales Online.
By July 9, the laptop spotted by officers had not yet been registered with the police, leading to Morgan’s arrest on suspicion of breaching the SHPO.
With the suspect detained, a team of search officers, detectives, and a specialist digital detection dog from South Wales Police conducted a thorough search of the defendant’s residence.
The court was told that at the property, the digital sniffer dog discovered the Acer laptop hidden beneath the kitchen counter, concealed by a removable wooden plinth.
Search officers also uncovered an SD memory card secreted under the hallway carpet, and a games console stashed at the back of the mailbox in the communal area of the property.
None of these devices had been registered with the police. Upon examination, the SD card was found to contain hundreds of indecent images of children.
Joey Morgan, of Ithon Road, Llandrindod Wells, Powys, admitted to two counts of possessing indecent images of children, two counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order, and theft – an offence which saw him stealing the games console retrieved from the mailbox – when he appeared in the dock. The court heard he had previously breached the SHPO in 2021 while residing in the Gwent area.
Detective Inspector Anthea Ponting of Dyfed-Powys Police’s offender management unit commented after the hearing: “There is no doubt that Joey Morgan is a dangerous individual who does not abide by the orders issued by the court and the requirements placed on him.
“I am grateful to the team of specialist units that worked together to bring Morgan back before the courts to sentence him for his offending. We await the result.”
Morgan was remanded in custody and is due to appear next at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates Court on August 7 for sentencing.
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