Hawkeye Reporter

A Council Bluffs resident, David Michael Morse, 55, was sentenced on July 24, 2025, to 180 months in federal prison for receiving child pornography and possessing a firearm as a felon.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted authorities after receiving a CyberTip about an account linked to Morse that had received and uploaded an image containing child sexual abuse material. Law enforcement searched Morse’s home in Council Bluffs, seizing electronics including a cellphone and firearms. A forensic review of the phone revealed it had been used to receive images and videos of child sexual abuse material.

Morse will serve five years of supervised release following his prison term. He was also ordered to pay $9,000 in restitution. Federal inmates are not eligible for parole.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa announced the sentence. The investigation involved the Iowa Department of Public Safety – Cyber Crime Bureau; Council Bluffs Police Department; Iowa State Patrol; Federal Bureau of Investigation-Child Exploitation Task Force; and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Task Force.

This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative started by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to address child sexual exploitation online. The program brings together federal, state, and local agencies to find and prosecute offenders and identify victims. More information can be found at https://www.justice.gov/psc.