Modesto convicted rapist arrested after four months at large

A convicted rapist who twice cut off his ankle monitor and returned to Modesto in violation of his parole has been captured after four months at large.

Matthew Deante Morgan, 23, was arrested by the Modesto Police Department’s gang unit last week at a west Modesto home. He’d been living in the home for several months, according to law enforcement.

Last month, The Bee interviewed the woman Morgan was convicted of raping when she was 14. In 2012, she was raped by Morgan and another man, who was a juvenile at the time. She woke up in the hospital with a high blood-alcohol content and might have been drugged, as she instantly felt sick and dizzy after Morgan handed her a drink earlier in the evening.

Both males served time related to the crime. Morgan served three years of his six-year sentence, half of that in the Stanislaus County Jail while awaiting prosecution.

The victim was angry that the day after Morgan’s release from prison last year, he was back in Modesto after cutting off his ankle monitor in Butte County, where he’d been paroled to be kept away from her.

Morgan has been arrested twice for violating his parole in the time since serving his prison sentence for the rape. He fought with authorities on both occasions. The victim’s frustration mounted after Morgan cut off his ankle monitor again after being released from custody the first time. He was let go without an ankle monitor after his second apprehension.

The victim, now a high school senior, was worried that she’d run into Morgan since his last release just before Christmas.

“What if I break down crying? What if he sees me? I don’t know what he will do to me,” she said last month.

On Wednesday, she said, “I feel way better about him being in (jail). I was kind of scared because this Friday is our prom. I didn’t know if anything is going to happen.”

Modesto police learned Morgan was living at a home in the 1200 block of Garden Avenue. Gang unit officers executed an arrest warrant on April 13, entering the home around 2:40 a.m., said Heather Graves, police spokeswoman. She said officers called out residents from their rooms; Morgan was the last to come out but surrendered peacefully.

He has been charged with failing to register as a sex offender and resisting arrest in association with his last arrest in October. He faces a maximum sentence of eight years and four months in prison.

Morgan was being held on $50,000 bail until Wednesday when Chief Deputy District Attorney Annette Rees argued for and was granted an increased bail of $105,000 based on his strike and prison prior.

He will return to court May 9.

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Modesto convicted rapist arrested after four months at large."