Trial for former Wichita County sheriff's deputy begins
The jury was picked Monday for the trial of a former Wichita County sheriff's deputy accused of invasive visual recording, court records show.
Testimony may begin Tuesday afternoon in the trial of Gerald "Tony" Anthony Morgan, 46, in 78th District Court.
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Morgan, who is also a former Wichita Falls police officer and former Wichita Falls ISD school security officer, is accused of emailing an intimate photograph obtained without the woman's consent in connection with an Oct. 31, 2019, incident, according to allegations in court documents.
He was working security for the Wichita County Courthouse when he was indicted in April 2020, and he was well known to those who regularly entered the facility.
Morgan worked for local law enforcement agencies almost 20 years altogether.
He was fired from the Wichita County Sheriff's Office upon his indictment, officials said.
Morgan was free Tuesday from Clay County Jail on a $10,000 bond, according to online jail and court records. He was booked in the Clay County Jail on May 6, 2020, after his arrest for the Wichita County charge.
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He has pleaded not guilty. Morgan faces up to two years in a state jail facility if convicted.
Seventy-eighth District Judge Meredith Kennedy appointed West Texas District Attorney Mike Fouts to serve as the independent prosecutor for Morgan's case, court documents show.
Fouts' 39th District includes Haskell, Stonewall, Kent and Throckmorton counties.
Kennedy appointed him after Wichita County DA John Gillespie asked to be recused to avoid any appearance of impropriety since local officials have long known Morgan.
On June 3, 2020, the victim in the case filed an affidavit of non-prosecution, asking that the charge against Morgan be dropped, according to court documents. She stated she made the request of her own free will but understood dropping the charge wasn't up to her.
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This isn't the first time Morgan has faced criminal charges.
He was charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor in connection with an alleged domestic violence incident on Dec. 17, 2011, according to previous Times Record News reports.
The incident was alleged to have taken place at the Wichita Falls home he shared with his now second ex-wife.
After about two years, the DA's Office dismissed the charges against Morgan, and his appeal of an indefinite suspension from the WFPD was settled, according to officials.
Morgan received a $60,000 payment from the city in the settlement. Court records for the dismissed charges are no longer publicly available.
Morgan began working for the Sheriff's Office in December 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He was a Wichita Falls police officer from April 5, 1999, to June 6, 2012 — about 13 years, according to city officials.
In addition, Morgan served as a school security officer at Wichita Falls ISD from Nov. 20, 2008, to Dec. 31, 2011, according to a previous Times Record News report.
WFISD Communications Officer Ashley Thomas has said the district's Human Resources Department did not have the records of which campuses security officers were assigned to while Morgan worked for the district.
The WFISD police chief monitors campus assignments, and a new chief, Lahoma Vaughn, started at the district in November 2019, Thomas has said.
Vaughn did not have records of campus assignments for the years Morgan worked for WFISD because the previous chief coordinated those records, Thomas has said.
Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news, politics and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Trial for former Wichita County sheriff's deputy begins