A 61-year-old former Clio police officer caught in a child sex trafficking sting will serve 45 days in jail and five years on probation. Morningstar was also assessed $398 in court fines and fees, including $200 in court costs, a $130 crime victim fee, and $68 in state minimum costs.
Jeffrey Morningstar pleaded guilty in August to one count of using a computer to commit a crime. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped two other charges: child sexually abusive activity and accosting a child for immoral purposes.
Court records show the charge carried a potential penalty of 4 to 10 years in prison or a $5,000 fine. Morningstar was also ordered to register as a Tier 2 sex offender for 25 years, requiring him to report twice each year.
He was sentenced October 3, 2025, by Genesee County Circuit Court Judge David J. Newblatt.
The conviction stems from an August 2024 GHOST operation led by Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson. Investigators said Morningstar responded to an undercover sting where a law enforcement officer posed as a trafficker selling a 15-year-old girl in Burton.
Morningstar allegedly agreed to pay to have sex with the child and arrived to meet who he believed was the trafficker.
“He started communicating with what he thought was an adult who was selling a child, then he came for that kid,” Swanson said.
Morningstar began his law enforcement career in the 1990s with the Detroit Police Department and later worked in Millington, Clio, and Longboat Key, Florida. Swanson said he was part-time with Clio for about a year and a half before leaving the state.
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