(WWJ) A Rhode Island man has been sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison for transporting an underage Michigan girl across state lines so he could have sex with her.
According to court documents, in mid-July 2019, 45-year-old Charles Morancey befriended a 15-year-old girl from Hopkins, in Allegan County, who told him she'd been having some problems at home.
During online chats that were often sexually explicit and graphic, federal prosecutors said Morancey helped the teen create a plan to run away from home with him and to prevent her parents from finding her. He advised her to remove and destroy her cell phone sim card and to change passwords or delete her social media accounts.
On August 2, 2019, the teen left her home and met Morancey, who drove her to his home in Warwick, RI, stopping in an Indiana rest area to have sex, the feds said. Upon arriving in Rhode Island, Morancey again had sex with the underage girl on multiple occasions, according to court documents.
But because the girl chose not to follow all of Morancey's instructions, authorities were able to track her down.
A few days later, the Allegan County Sherriff's Department obtained an emergency search warrant for the missing teen's Instagram account, and determined that the girl had logged on from an IP address in Rhode Island. The investigation determined that the IP address belonged to Morancey, Warwick Police were notified, and the girl was found at the man's home.
Later that afternoon, Morancey was arrested.
Morancey pleaded guilty on November 18, 2019, to a two-count information charging him with travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and receipt of child pornography.
On Tuesday, Morancey was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith to 135 months in federal prison, followed by 30 years of federal supervised release.
The case was investigated by the Allegan County Sherriff's Office and the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, with the assistance of the Warwick Police Department.
