LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – A Mascotte man and Disney World stage tech is accused of molesting a young girl after meeting her mother online and committing sexual battery on an infant, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Detectives in the Lake County Crimes Unit arrested Richard Alton Morgan, 57, on Monday at his home on Lake Jackson Drive after receiving a tip that child pornography was being shared from his house, according to the Sheriff's Office.
"He told me I would find what I was looking for on his computers," a detective wrote in the arrest affidavit. "He told me he had been downloading images of child pornography for a few years."
Detectives searched Morgan's home and found images of a young girl, estimated to be younger than 6, being molested by Morgan, according to the arrest report.
The child now lives in California, according to detectives. California authorities located the child Monday night and arrested her mother on molestation charges. The mother and Morgan met online, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Morgan's next-door neighbor said she believes she knew the woman from California who visited Morgan with her children.
"They're beautiful kids and he tells me how much he should be a father (and) how he loves kids, sometimes he would Skype with the little girl, helping her with her homework, stuff like that," Joan Allman said. "And I thought he was genuine and dedicated. I was shocked when I saw he was arrested the other morning. Shocked."
A folder labeled "baby b" on Morgan's computer contained videos of a female infant being molested by Morgan, according to the arrest report.
After his arrest, Morgan admitted to deputies to sexually abusing the infant in his residence, authorities said.
Detectives list "stage tech" at Disney as his occupation.
A Disney spokesperson said Morgan has been place on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the charges but did not answers questions about Morgan's specific role at Disney World or if he had contact with children at work.
More than 20 images were found at Morgan's home depicting images of young children and infants, according to the report.
Morgan admitted to detectives that he molested a girl estimated to be 6 years old and two other children, investigators said.
Detectives are trying to identify two more victims in photos that were found during the investigation who were possibly 10 to 15 months old when the images were taken.
Detectives said they want to speak with the parents of children who had contact with Morgan.
Allman said Morgan seemed to have a fascination with babies, especially the ones in the neighborhood.
“He said, 'Do you know they have a young baby?' And I said, 'Where?' And he said, 'Over there,'" Allman said. "I said ‘How come he knew so much and I didn't know.’"
Allman said she couldn't sleep after learning of the charges against Morgan.
"I met the children," she said. "I'm a mother. My son is 35 years old but i remember when my son was 15 months old and I couldn't have imagined someone doing that to my son. I would kill them."
Morgan is charged with three counts of sexual battery, 20 counts of possession of child pornography, 287 counts of production of child pornography and 56 counts of lewd or lascivious molestation.
He was booked into the Lake County Jail and ordered held without bond.