A doctor and a Boy Scouts leader was arrested on a charge of sexual abuse after being accused of sexually abusing numerous children and taking indecent photographs of them, according to police in Washington.
Now, 47-year-old Craig A. Morgenstern of Nine Mile Falls, was sentenced to 12 life terms in federal prison after a jury found him guilty of 12 counts of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child.
Senior United States District Judge W. Fremming Nielsen also imposed a 30-year term of imprisonment for each of Morgenstern’s 18 convictions for Production and Attempted Production of Child Pornography, as well as a 20-year term of imprisonment for two convictions for Travel with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Contact with a Minor.
He got another 20-year term of imprisonment for Receipt of Child Pornography.
According to the criminal complaint, Morgenstern sexually assaulted six young boys and produced child pornography images of the assaults.
The victims ranged in age from 7 to 15 years old at the time of the assaults.
Evidence at trial showed that Morgenstern traveled to Idaho, Mississippi, and Tennessee, in order to sexually molest the same victims and produce child pornography images for his own sexual gratification.
Morgenstern would incapacitate his victims using drugs so that the victims were unaware of the sexual abuse and so that he could continue his crimes and avoid detection.
Morgenstern’s crimes were discovered after one of his victims escaped from his residence in Stevens County, after awaking to being sexually assaulted during the early morning hours.
Morgenstern then attempted to destroy much of the evidence of his crimes prior to his arrest.
Morgenstern was ordered to hand over $30,000 from the sale of his house and restitution of approximately $10,000 to the families of the victims.
Morgenstern was a Veteran’s Affairs doctor and an Eastern Washington Boy Scouts leader.