Former QC Arts leader to stay in jail awaiting child sexual abuse material charges

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (KWQC) - A judge has ordered Benjamin Morris to remain in jail after new details emerged Tuesday in the child sexual abuse material case against the former executive director of Quad-City Arts.

The judge said he did not believe any conditions existed under which Morris could be released without posing a danger to the public.

A detective testified that Morris was seeking to meet in person with children he had contacted online.

He said investigators used geo-location data to confirm Morris’s phone was used to take a pornographic photo inside a Davenport hotel room.

They said they found dozens of images and videos on Morris’s phone.

Prosecutors also alleged Morris was exchanging child sexual abuse material with his brother, a military attaché stationed in London. The FBI is continuing to examine numerous devices belonging to Morris.

Morris’s father, Daniel Morris, testified that if his son were released, he would personally ensure Ben Morris had no access to the internet. The judge was unconvinced.

Morris faces 30 charges filed by Rock Island County State’s Attorney Dora Villarreal. He was arrested by the Rock Island Police Department after an investigation that began with Predator Poachers Illinois — a volunteer group that poses as underage decoys online to identify suspected child predators.

TV6 Investigates documented the group’s work on the Morris case earlier this month. According to Predator Poachers, Morris contacted one of its decoys earlier this year. On June 26, the group tracked him to the Quad City Arts building in Rock Island, where he was then serving as executive director.

Group leader Aaron Snidle said his organization never makes first contact and never steers conversations in a sexual direction — practices he says make their evidence stand up in court.

“The interaction between our adults that are posing as children — we record everything,” Snidle said. “Keep track of it, then we go out and confront.”

On the sidewalk outside the Quad City Arts building, Snidle read transcripts of the alleged conversations aloud to Morris. Morris responded at the scene, calling the exchanges “role-playing.”

“It’s more like role-playing,” Morris told Snidle. “The fun I have with it, I guess. The thrill of talking to someone.”

Snidle said his group’s investigations have led to 49 arrests across nine states, with 20 resulting in convictions totaling 190 years in prison.

Morris remains held at the Rock Island County Jail. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 10.