NH man possessed more than 700K images of child sexual abuse

MANCHESTER, NH – A Hillsboro man was sentenced to 15-to-30-years in the New Hampshire State Prison after he pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of child sexual abuse images and explosives.

Maurice Morissette, 70, formerly of 75 Winter Road pleaded guilty in Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District to four counts of possessing child sexual abuse images; one charge of manufacturing child sexual abuse images for printing the images; and one charge of possession of explosives.

Originally, Morissette was indicted on 17 counts of possession of child sexual abuse images and 10 counts of manufacturing of child sexual abuse images.

Judge Michael Klass also sentenced Morissette to 12 months on the explosives charge, to be served concurrently with the felony offenses.  He was given pre-trial confinement credit of 195 days.

If Morissette successfully completes the sexual offender treatment program, the minimum 15-year sentence could be reduced by three years.

Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney Alexander G. Gatzoulis told the judge that the investigation began when police received a cyber tip of child sexual abuse images being store on devices located at Morissette’s Winter Road home.

The investigation was led by members of the Internet Crimes Against Children task force.

Investigators, he said, executed a search warrant on Morissette’s home on June 14, 2024, where they discovered more than 300 printed images of child pornography, including 88 which were generated by artificial intelligence.

From various electronic devices, Gatzoulis said investigators also recovered thousands of child sexual abuse images, and on his OneDrive, more than 740,000 images of child pornography.

In a bedroom, police recovered a hand grenade and detonating fuses.