Parents of Kids Who Went Missing in Tuscaloosa County Charged With Sexual Abuse

The parents of two children who went missing in McCalla last week have both been charged with a handful of felonies after investigators reportedly discovered evidence of longtime sexual abuse.

As the Thread previously reported, two children - an infant and a toddler - went missing from their grandparents' home in McCalla last Friday.

State and local police said the children were believed to be with their mother, 21-year-old Haley Kaitlyn Reach. On Monday, more than a dozen new court documents were filed detailing the chaos that led to Reach's arrest and the arrest of the children's father - 22-year-old Seth Alexander Morgan.

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According to the court documents, the first domino to fall came when a Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's sergeant saw a car pass by without a license plate and moved to pull it over - the vehicle was allegedly being driven by Reach.

She reportedly sped away from the attempted stop and exceeded 100 miles per hour as she eluded the deputy and others who joined in the pursuit.

It was apparently during this period that Reach took the children from their grandparents' house.

The vehicle was soon found "in the middle of the road at Nick Road at Highway 216" in McCalla. It was reportedly abandoned, but police said they found Reach's wallet and two grams of meth in the vehicle.

Reach and the children were found soon after, but while the TCSO Criminal Investigation Division investigated that case, they reportedly recovered a diary written by Haley Reach. Police say the diary explicitly detailed sexual abuse that she and the father, Seth Morgan, subjected a child to for several months.

To protect the privacy of the alleged victim and because of the graphic nature of the material police say the diary contained, the details of the deposition will not be shared here.

Police say this alleged sexual abuse occurred regularly between December 2023 and February 2024.

According to court documents, Haley Reach admitted to authoring the diary and confessed to aiding in or observing the commission of several sex crimes in follow-up interviews.

Seth Morgan, the father, was transported to the offices of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes unit and reportedly denied any wrongdoing, but police say witnesses confirmed he and Reach were alone together with the alleged victim at times when the abuse reportedly occurred.

In addition to the charges tied to the chase, Reach was charged with sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old and as an accomplice in an additional count of first-degree rape and three counts of first-degree sodomy.

Morgan was charged with sexual abuse of a child, first-degree rape and three counts of first-degree sodomy.

Both parents are in the Tuscaloosa County Jail where they are being held without bond. The children who were taken and recovered last week are in state custody.

For updates on this case if any are made available, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.