A US officer left Britain before police could question him over child abuse images
28 October 2026 · 28 October 2026Share
Members of the US Air Force Band of the West model their ceremonial uniform in 2007. File photo. United States Air Force · Public domain
A senior US Air Force officer who worked at the US embassy in London has just been named, almost three months after he was flown out of Britain without facing police questions.
He is Lieutenant Colonel Michael Morris.
He was an assistant military attache at the embassy.
So why did he leave so fast?
British police were told on 25 August that US authorities were investigating him over suspected indecent images of children.
That same month, Michael Morris got on a civilian flight out of the UK.
British police never got to question him.
Now the US Air Force has laid charges.
They are possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, obstructing justice, and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.
An Air Force spokesperson says quote "charges have been preferred against Lt Col Michael Morris".
That's the US confirming the case is real, but not yet at trial.
He is assigned to the Air Force District of Washington. He faces a hearing at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland next month. He only enters a plea if that hearing sends the case to a full court-martial.
So nothing is decided yet. The Air Force says the charges are allegations and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Nothing has been proven.
And here's the part that actually exposed him. His own brother.
Benjamin Morris is 33. He is on trial in Illinois over child sexual abuse material. He denies it.
Prosecutors there say Benjamin Morris shared the images with Michael Morris while Michael was stationed in London. They say it happened in March and April this year.
The Rock Island County State Attorney, Dora Villareal, has confirmed that timeframe.
The rest of this story is for Silver and Gold members.
The new US Embassy building in Nine Elms, London. File photo. PAUL FARMER · CC BY-SA 2.0
Benjamin Morris was arrested after a group that tracks alleged paedophiles triggered the investigation.
So the case against the brother in Illinois is what pulled the officer in London into the open.
The US Embassy says it quickly informed UK law enforcement and took swift action. It moved Michael Morris back to the US while the case continued.
The Metropolitan Police say they are still in contact with US authorities, and they know charges have now been brought in America.
But there is no UK case.
Nobody has been arrested in Britain. Nobody has been charged here.
Michael Morris was not a formal diplomat. But it is understood he had the protection that comes with embassy staff. The Foreign Office has not confirmed that.
A UK government spokesperson says embassy staff are expected to follow British law, and that it would not be right to say more while the US investigation is ongoing.
The government says it remains in contact with the US Embassy, including at ministerial level.
And this has happened before.
Captain Jacob Wulfson strangled a woman in Cambridge while off duty. He avoided a UK trial. He was court-martialled on a US airbase instead, and jailed for six months.
In 2019, the US state department employee Anne Sacoolas caused the death of the teenager Harry Dunn in a car crash. She left Britain under claimed diplomatic immunity. She later pleaded guilty at a virtual High Court hearing and got a suspended sentence.
So the pattern keeps repeating. A British investigation starts. The person leaves before it can finish.
What is not known: what the alleged images show, how many there were, and whether UK police are running any inquiry of their own.
Michael Morris has not entered a plea.
He has not been convicted of anything.
His case sits with the US military now, not with Britain.
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