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Former Eastern Shore Fire Chief, Bus Driver Sentenced To 60 Years For Attempting To Entice A Minor

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A former Eastern Shore volunteer fire chief and school bus driver was sentenced to 60 years in prison Monday for attempted enticement of a minor.

James Morris, Jr., 70, of Cordova, pleaded guilty to the charge Monday. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

In a plea agreement, Morris admitted to sexually abusing minors over the course of decades, including while he was the chief of the Cordova Volunteer Fire Department.

He also served as a school bus driver for the Talbot County Public Schools and as a baseball coach, which the justice department said is how he met some of his victims.

State police executed a search warrant on Morris's home in 2017 after receiving a tip that he was involved in the sexual abuse of multiple minors.

Investigators searched his computer and found a conversation between Morris and a 17-year-old Virginia boy in which they boy sent Morris an explicit photo of himself.

Morris also pleaded guilty to six charges in Talbot County in March, including sexually abusing five victims beginning in the 1980s. He is set to be sentenced in that case in August.

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