Man sentenced on OR child porn charges: Murphy faces 7 years in federal prison

Hall said a child who was interviewed by the Columbia Gorge Children’s Advocacy Center in Hood River disclosed that he/she was abused by Murphy. On April 6, Murphy pleaded guilty to state charges of first-degree attempted sex abuse and was sentenced to 60 months in state prison.

This sentence will run concurrent with the federal time, Hall said, so effectively when Murphy is released from federal prison, his state prison sentence will be done.

Wasco County Chief Deputy District Attorney Leslie Wolf, who prosecuted the state case, said, “The global settlement was a good resolution to both matters and the victim got to be heard at sentencing.”

According to court documents, in 2017, local and federal law enforcement conducted undercover investigations of online peer-to-peer file sharing programs being used to exchange images of child pornography.

Three separate investigations led investigators to an internet protocol (IP) address registered to a home Murphy shared with his fiancée in The Dalles.

In June 2018, investigators executed a federal search warrant at the residence and Murphy consented to an interview. Murphy admitted to using uTorrent, a peer-to-peer file sharing network, to download and share child pornography. On Feb. 27, 2020, Murphy pleaded guilty to the federal charges, one count each of transportation and possession of child pornography. After his release from prison, Murphy will be required to register as a sex offender.

Anyone who has information about the physical or online exploitation of children are encouraged to call the FBI at 503-224-4181 or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

Federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor.

It is important to remember child sexual abuse material depicts actual crimes being committed against children.

Not only do these images and videos document victims’ exploitation and abuse, but when shared across the internet, the child victims suffers re-victimization each time the image of their abuse is viewed.

Learn more at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s website at www.missingkids.org.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, www.justice.gov/psc.