District Man Sentenced to 32 Months in Prison For Sexually Assaulting Teenager in Union Station

            WASHINGTON – Morris Graham, 27, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 32 months in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy at Union Station earlier this year, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu announced.

            Graham pled guilty in May 2018, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to a charge of attempted second-degree child sexual abuse. He was sentenced by the Honorable Ronna L. Beck. Upon completion of his prison term, Graham will be placed on 10 years of supervised release. He also will be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

            According to the government’s evidence, on Feb. 28, 2018, the victim had come to the District of Columbia with his family from out-of-town for the memorial honoring the late Rev. Billy Graham at the U.S. Capitol. Following their visit to the Capitol, the victim and his family entered Union Station to have food. The victim left his family to find an elevator for his brother, who was in a wheelchair, to allow him to reach the food court. The victim approached and signaled for the elevator on the food court level. A moment later, the defendant walked past the elevator and down the hall, and then he returned to enter the elevator. After that, on the main level, a Union Station janitor entered the elevator, and the defendant moved behind the victim in the elevator. The elevator descended once again to the food court, where the janitor exited the elevator. When the janitor exited the elevator, the defendant moved beside the victim and grabbed the victim’s left hand. The victim turned around when the defendant grabbed his hand, and he could see the defendant’s exposed penis. The defendant forced the victim’s hand to touch his penis. When the elevator doors opened, the victim ran out of the elevator and located his family. The victim provided a description of the defendant to law enforcement and an Amtrak Police officer was able to identify the defendant from surveillance video based on prior encounters with him. The defendant was apprehended the next day, on March 1, 2018, at Union Station, and has been in custody ever since.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu commended the work of Amtrak Police and the Metropolitan Police Department, including the Youth and Family Services Division, which investigated the case. She also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocate Veronica A. Vaughn and Paralegal Specialist T.J. McPhail. Finally, she expressed appreciation for the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Stuart D. Allen, who investigated and prosecuted the case.