A 37-year-old Level 3 sex offender with nine previous indecent exposure convictions was back in Lewis County Superior Court Tuesday on allegations he exposed himself and assaulted a Centralia College employee.
The allegations come less than two months after Sean C. Morgan was released from prison for a previous conviction for similar activity. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office announced Morgan had registered as a transient in Lewis County in July.
He now faces one count of first-degree burglary, a class A felony punishable by up to life in prison and $50,000 in fines; one count of indecent exposure, a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines; and one count of fourth-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor.
Calling Morgan “a danger to the community,” Judge J. Andrew Toynbee set Morgan’s bail at $750,000 Tuesday.
State prosecutors allege that Morgan made physical contact with a Centralia College staff member while masturbating at the campus.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Sept. 8, Centralia police responded to a report of a male suspect “that was masturbating to a staff member and then put his penis on her.”
When speaking with the reported victim, an officer noted that she was “visibly upset and shaken up,” according to the affidavit. The woman said she was working on a project at her desk when she saw a man enter and sit at a computer located behind her.
According to the affidavit, the woman “said she felt weird about it” because he used the computer directly behind her, when there were multiple other computers available, and she kept hearing noises from the male. She said she kept trying to block out the noise, but eventually she called her boss into the room.
The boss reportedly entered the room and, after an undisclosed period of time, left the room.
The woman then said she felt something on her shoulder.
According to the affidavit, the woman “said she turned to her right and saw the male's erect penis and hand on her shoulder so she pushed (her) chair back and yelled at him to leave.”
The woman indicated she had never seen the man before.
A suspect was later located based on the description given. The woman identified him as the one who assaulted her. The suspect was Morgan.
According to the affidavit, Morgan allegedly admitted to being at the college — a place he was trespassed from in 2018 — to use the bathroom and computers, saying that “a woman freaked out when he stood up to leave and put on his jacket, possibly exposing his boxers.”
He said he was only at the college for 10 minutes.
The incident itself was not captured by surveillance cameras, according to the affidavit, but surveillance footage does reportedly show Morgan exit the room carrying his jacket. The footage also allegedly places Morgan at the college for about 45 minutes.
The affidavit states that Morgan has nine prior felony convictions for indecent exposure, along with numerous other convictions for offenses that include felony harassment, malicious mischief and third-degree assault, domestic violence. The document further states that Morgan has “at least three prior community custody violations and a probation/supervision violation,” as well as a felony no-contact order violation conviction.
Morgan was previously released from prison on July 10 and was serving a community custody sentence that required him to wear an ankle monitoring device.
During his preliminary hearing Tuesday, Deputy Prosecutor Scott Jackson said that Morgan has “one of the most concerning criminal histories.”
“And this is (an) escalation of events where he’s now charged with a class A offense,” Jackson said, before noting that Morgan is serving community custody for “almost the exact same thing, which is indecent exposure with sexual motivation.”
Jackson called the latest alleged offense an escalation because Morgan “went somewhere he wasn’t allowed to be and he actually touched the individual who was working at the college.”
The prosecutor asked Judge J. Andrew Toynbee for a bail amount of $750,000, along with a sexual assault protection order on behalf of the alleged victim and a firearms surrender order.
Defense attorney Rachael Tiller responded that the requested bail amount was “completely out of reach” for Morgan and noted that Morgan was receiving financial assistance including food stamps and supplemental security income (SSI). According to Tiller, Morgan’s spouse, who was reportedly present during the hearing, was also receiving financial assistance.
The attorney further noted that Morgan was currently receiving treatment and involved in counseling, and was in communication with his community corrections officer. She asked for bail in the amount of no more than $75,000.
Toynbee agreed with the state’s request for $750,000. Discussing Morgan’s history, Toynbee said he counted “eight prior convictions, and then two priors for assault for a sexual motivation.”
“Clearly, he is a danger to the community,” Toynbee added. “As Mr. Jackson pointed out, nothing seems to stop him from this behavior.”
The judge granted the state’s request for a sexual assault protection order.
During the hearing, Morgan took issue with his assigned attorney, Don Blair, saying, “I don’t want Don Blair, he’s been on these cases every time and we kind of have a conflict of interest.”
The judge responded that he doesn’t have anything to do with the assignment of counsel.
“We’ve always had a conflict of interest, me and him,” Morgan said a few moments later. “The last three cases, we’ve kind of argued out differences.”
As a result, Tiller assigned Albert Didcock to represent Morgan in the case. An arraignment was scheduled for Sept. 11.
Prior to Tuesday’s charges, Morgan pleaded guilty to indecent exposure with sexual motivation on Jan. 19, 2022. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison, with 30 months of community custody to be served upon release. Morgan received infractions for indecent exposure and two counts of sexual harassment involving Department of Corrections staff while in prison.
Morgan pleaded guilty to earlier charges of indecent exposure in 2019. He has other prior convictions for similar behavior dating back to 2004.
On July 15, The Chronicle reported that Morgan had registered to live as a transient with no fixed address in Lewis County after the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office released a notification alerting the public.
“Based on the totality of circumstances and past behaviors, Morgan has been identified as a clear risk to the community and this notification is required,” the sheriff’s office stated. “Using this public information to threaten, intimidate or harass sex offenders will not be tolerated by the law enforcement agencies of Lewis County. This abuse could potentially terminate our ability to release this important information to the public.”
The sheriff’s office explained that the announcement was not intended to increase fear.
“Rather, it is our belief that an informed public is a safer public,” the department stated.
