Warwick Man Who Sexually Abused Michigan Teen Sentenced To Prison

WARWICK, RI — A 45-year-old Warwick man who sexually abused a 15-year-old Michigan girl has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison and another 10 years of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Richard B. Myrus announced today.

In the summer of 2019, Charles Morancey befriended the teen online, persuaded her to "run away" with him, exchanged graphic and explicit messages with the girl, drove to Michigan to pick her up, took steps to ensure she could not be tracked, and sexually abused her, Myrus said in a news release.

Morancey told the girl how to prevent her parents from locating or contacting her. He advised her to remove and destroy her cell phone SIM card and to change passwords or delete her social media accounts. However, the girl did not follow all of Morancey’s instructions, Myrus said.

On August 2 of that year, the girl left her home without her parent’s knowledge and met up with Morancey, who drove her to his Warwick residence. The two stopped in an Indiana rest area during the two-day drive to engage in sexual contact. Upon arriving in Rhode Island, Morancey engaged in illicit sexual activity with the minor girl on multiple occasions, Myrus said.

On August 6, the Allegan County Sherriff’s Department obtained an emergency search warrant for the missing teen’s Instagram account, and found that she had logged in from an IP address in Rhode Island. The IP address was traced to Morancey. Warwick Police were notified and found the missing girl at his home. Later that afternoon, Morancey was arrested during a Warwick traffic stop.

Morancey pleaded guilty in November of 2019 to a two-count information charging him with travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and receipt of child pornography.

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Today, U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith sentenced Morancey to 135 months in federal prison to be followed by ten years of federal supervised release, and an assessment in the amount of $5,000 pursuant to the Justice for Victims Trafficking Act.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lee H. Vilker. The matter was investigated by the Allegan County Sherriff’s Office and the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, with the assistance of the Warwick Police Department.