Mass. man indicted on porn charges

By Amanda Stewart

Published: July 11, 2008

A Massachusetts man was indicted this week in Prince William Circuit Court on 20 counts of distributing sexually explicit material.

John Joseph Ready, 60, of Norton, Mass., was arrested in March after allegedly sending dozens of images of child pornography to a Dumfries police officer posing as a 13-year-old boy on the Internet.

Ready also faces 38 felony charges in Stafford County Circuit Court, including distributing child pornography, 25 counts of reproducing child pornography, six counts of using a computer to solicit sex with a minor and five counts of attempting to take indecent liberties with a minor.

A Dumfries police officer and a detective from the Stafford County Sheriff's office, both posing as 13-year-old boys,  communicated with Ready, a former Boy Scout leader in Massachusetts, online during a three-month period in late 2006 and early 2007, police said.

Police said that Ready sent the police officers images and videos of child pornography and introduced them to an-other man, Gene Raymond Morrill of New Ipswich, N.H.

According to police, Morrill also sent the police officers images of child pornography. Morrill pleaded guilty in June in Prince William Circuit Court to two counts of distributing sexually explicit material.

Morrill was also charged and pleaded guilty in January to 20 felonies in Stafford County and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Ready is scheduled to enter a plea to his charges in Prince William Circuit Court on Aug. 7.

In Stafford County, Ready is scheduled to stand trial before a jury Oct. 8.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.