Ex-Mendocino County prison guard gets year for recording girl

A former Rohnert Park prison guard who recorded a teen family member with hidden cameras in her bedroom and bathroom was sentenced Monday to a year in jail.

Todd Morrow, 44, was arrested last year after the girl’s mother discovered a flash drive containing the images in the pocket of his uniform.

Morrow later was fired from his job as a guard at a Mendocino County prison facility run by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He pleaded no contest in February to child pornography and peeping charges.

The girl’s mother urged Judge Robert LaForge to sentence Morrow to the maximum four years in prison. Probation officials recommended a 10-month term.

“You’re a complete monster,” the woman told Morrow before he was taken into custody. “You’re not a human being. And you have a dead soul.”

Morrow, who avoided eye contact, did not respond to her at the hearing attended by about 30 people.

His lawyer read a written statement in which Morrow expressed deep remorse.

As part of his punishment, Morrow must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Morrow, a correctional officer since 2009, was described by the mother as a “tech-savvy” person who could rebuild a computer.

A probation report described an elaborate surveillance system that he installed, including a “pinhole” camera in a TV cabinet in the victim’s bedroom. Wires were discovered running to a computer router mounted on the garage ceiling, the report said.

A cellphone camera believed to have been used in the bathroom was also found in the garage, along with three other pinhole cameras and a radio receiver, the report said.

Additional holes were located on the girl’s bedroom wall and under a smoke detector that had been modified to accept a camera, the report said.

Detectives searched the equipment and found more than 8,000 images apparently taken by a surveillance camera, including pictures of the girl without a shirt on and of her drying off after a shower, the report said.

A review of Morrow’s work computer by prison officials showed searches for bathroom-light and toothbrush cameras as well as low-light cameras and motion-detector cameras, the report said.

Morrow told probation officials he had a longtime porn addiction that ruined two marriages. He said he decided to film the girl after seeing her partially undressed when she showed her mother a sunburn.

The girl’s parents told the judge they were sickened to learn what Morrow had been doing.

The father said he struggled to resist the urge to “find him and take care of business.” The mother said she is emotionally and financially devastated by the experience.

“I hope my daughter and I never cross your terrible and disgusting path again,” she said.

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