A deal is in place that would put a former Nazareth assistant fire chief in prison for about two and a half years for attempting to obtain child pornography.

Upper Nazareth Township resident Mark Morella, 40, admitted he tried to get naked photos of a 15-year-old boy. In fact, the solicitation for the photos came from law enforcement officers, who say Morella showed up at a meeting point where he expected to pick up the “teen boy” for sex.

However, a psychologist hired by Morella’s defense team says Morella isn’t a child predator. He’s an overweight man with low self-esteem who struggled with his “closeted bisexuality” and his inability to connect with gay men.

Psychologist Frank Dattilio said Morella was burdened by his inability to admit his sexual preferences to his family, co-workers and fellow fire department volunteers.

“He found it better just to keep this under wraps and maintain a more clandestine lifestyle with his sexuality,” Dattilio wrote.

According to Dattilio, Morella tried to connect with men on gay dating app Grindr, but never got anyone to meet with him except for “Bobbie,” the police officer posing as the 15-year-old.

Dattilio believes Morella is attracted to age-appropriate men. No child pornography was found on his electronic devices and he has responded well to sex offender therapy, according to the presentence report filed Friday by attorney Bernard S. Brody of Atlanta, Georgia.

Brody asked U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl to impose a 27-month prison sentence at Thursday’s hearing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Dimmig asked for a sentence anywhere between 27 and 33 months, which is the range recommended under federal guidelines.

Dimmig says Morella’s conduct has to be taken seriously.

“As a volunteer firefighter, his actions contribute to the victimization of young and vulnerable children, the very people he is trained to protect. He admitted that he knew his behavior was illegal and wrong, but that did nothing to curtail his criminal acts,” Dimmig wrote in his memo, filed Sept. 30.

Morella pleaded guilty in June to attempting to obtain child pornography. In exchange, charges of attempting to entice a minor for sex and attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor were dropped.

In July 2024, Morella drove to the Wegmans supermarket in Hanover Township, Northampton County, expecting to meet the teen for sex. When police surrounded him, he allegedly reversed into a police car, then pulled forward and struck another police car before turning himself in. Three police officers in the vehicles suffered minor injuries, police said at the time.

“The willingness to take extreme risks even when he believed his position may have been compromised by law enforcement shows that his desire for sexual gratification is not easily deterred,” Dimmig wrote in his memo.

“Mr. Morella has expressed his remorse and disgust for his behaviors,” Dattilio countered. “He also cooperated with police after he panicked initially and has clearly addressed his issues by independently seeking treatment.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman declined an invitation to comment for this story. Brody didn’t respond to the invitation. Both sides agree Morella should spend five years on supervised release after serving his prison sentence.

Morella joined Nazareth’s fire department as a volunteer in 2012, according to his sentencing memo. He served a six-year term as board president, it says. He was assistant fire chief for four years, it says.

Vigilance Hose Co. No. 1 company president Eric Heckman said in June that Morella was no longer a fire department member.

Morella’s sentencing memo says he became Nazareth Borough’s Emergency Management Coordinator in 2016. He now works for his father’s environmental construction firm, the memo says.

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