Documents: Santa Rosa teacher sent lewd messages about young girls

Search warrant documents obtained Monday reveal a series of disturbing text messages sent from a Santa Rosa substitute teacher’s phone, in which the man said he fantasized about young girls but insisted he never acted on his feelings.

The teacher, Ethan Morse, 39, shared numerous pictures of girls clad mostly in gymnastic attire, ages 8-16, accompanied by lewd comments such as “best ass ever,” with a woman he met on the dating website, OkCupid, according to the documents.

The woman, identified in the papers only as Wendy G., apparently became concerned by the texts and contacted agents from the Department of Homeland Security, who pretended to be her and continued texting with Morse beginning Oct. 1.

The warrant states that Morse, who had teaching assignments in a half-dozen schools this fall, texted he’d glimpsed the panties of a 10-year-old girl who propped her legs on a desk. He found it “hot,” the texts show.

Later, he said he made “some girls do cartwheels and splits at PE … lol,” according to the documents.

When asked by the agent if he took pictures, Morse responded, “No, just mental ones,” according to the warrant.

“There was this one girl u should have seen her ass omg,” Morse allegedly said in his reply.

The documents state that Morse singled out 10-year-olds as his favorite, but repeatedly denied ever doing anything with them. Also, he insisted he didn’t have nude pictures.

Earlier this month, undercover agents set up surveillance outside his Camellia Court house and began reviewing his employment and phone records.

An investigator followed him to a teaching assignment at Santa Rosa Middle School and other agents continued texting him through Oct. 13.

Two days later, agents raided his house and Morse was arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography.

Morse, who was released on $30,000 bail, declined to comment after his first court appearance last week. His next hearing is Nov. 18.

Prosecutors would only say the obscene material was found on his phone. They declined to release further details, citing the ongoing investigation.

The messages described in the documents included pictures of girls in skirts and stretch pants, some showing underwear, but nothing involving nudity.

Morse found the pictures on the Internet by searching terms such as “gymnast” and “dancer,” the documents state.

He called them “regular pictures,” saying “they’re beautiful, they’re gorgeous,” authorities said. Morse also said he shares them with women and encourages them to fantasize about “kids doing the splits over you,” the search warrant states.

The investigation turned up an earlier complaint about Morse from another woman on OkCupid. Rohnert Park officers said a woman in 2011 reported he sent her pictures of 5- to 6-year-old girls in bathing suits or underwear with their legs apart. The woman was concerned because Morse said he was interested in studying early childhood development, the search warrant said.

Morse told officers the pictures came from the Internet. The case was closed because of insufficient evidence.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. ?On Twitter @ppayne.