POLICE: Centerville man charged with posing a child for nude...

Actual Barnstable Police Press Release:

On January 23, 2015, 27 year old Joel Morris of Centerville, MA was arrested by Barnstable Police Detectives on charges of Enticing a Child under 16 years of age, Posing a Child for Nude Photographs with Lascivious Intent, and Possession of Child Pornography. Morris was also charged with Possession of a Class D Substance (Marijuana) with Intent to Distribute and Possession of a Class C Substance (Hash Oil/Dabs) With Intent to Distribute.

Morris’s arrest is the result of a month long investigation by the Barnstable and Sandwich Police Departments that arose from a complaint from a high school student. Additionally, in an unrelated matter, the Barnstable Police Department had received a cybertip relative to Morris’ activities. The complaints were very specific and suggested that the 27 year old Morris has been enticing high school age girls to participate in photo shoots. Morris claims to have a photography business called “Diamond Flash Photography”. The investigation suggested that Morris distributed Marijuana, Hash Oil, and cash to those that posed for him. The photo shoots have been reported to include the photographing of young girls in various inappropriate poses. Evidence indicates that Morris utilizes different names/online profiles such as Joel and Jay Mackenzie, JoelfromCape, and greenlava7 on internet sites such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram to communicate with the victims. Sexually explicit images that have been sent via these applications have been recovered during the investigation.

Yesterday (1/23) a search warrant was executed at Morris’s Centerville residence. Detectives recovered approximately a pound of Marijuana, over 200 grams of Hash Oil (dabs), $2,000 cash, along with several computers, hard drives, mobile phones, and photography equipment. Morris was arrested on the above charges and is being held at the Barnstable PD on $10,000 cash bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned at Barnstable District Court on Monday January 26, 2015

Barnstable Police Detectives are in the process of conducting forensic examinations on the digital devices seized from Morris. We are strongly encouraging anyone who may have interacted with Morris, Diamond Flash Photography or any of the online profiles mentioned above to contact Barnstable Detective Kevin Connolly at 508-958-6522 or Sandwich School Resource Officer Christa Cabral at 774-2746765.

The investigation is ongoing and HN will provide updates as they become available.