Former Maryland State Police trooper sentenced for sexually abusing girl years ago

A former Maryland State Police trooper was sentenced Tuesday to 45 years in state prison after a jury found him guilty last fall of sexually abusing a Washington County girl more than 16 years ago.

Brian Hanford Murphy, 50, of Frederick County, Md., continued to deny he'd sexually abused the girl as he addressed Washington County Circuit Court Judge Brett R. Wilson before being sentenced.

Wilson said it was Murphy's right to deny his culpability in the case, but a jury heard his denial and the victim's testimony as well as the testimony of others during the trial last fall and convicted Murphy.

"These are hideous events and the community has spoken," Wilson said.

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Wilson sentenced Murphy to 55 years, with 10 years suspended and the rest to be served in state prison. Murphy has credit for 176 days time served.

Last November, a jury found Murphy guilty of three felonies: sexual abuse of a minor while he was temporarily responsible for her supervision; knowingly soliciting a minor to engage in sexual acts; and sexual abuse of a minor — engaging in a continuing course of conduct over at least 90 days.

The allegations stemmed from a woman coming forward in 2018 about sexual abuse by Murphy, a family friend, while both lived in Washington County and she was elementary- and middle-school age.

The Herald-Mail does not identify victims of sexual abuse.

When the woman took the stand last fall she told the jury she came forward years later after becoming a mother and being sober.

While some of the incidents could not be pinned down to specific dates, the sexual solicitation charge was specifically said to have occurred on or about Jan. 16, 2007. At that time Murphy would have been 33 and the victim 12.

At that time Murphy was one of the people helping the children in the victim’s family while the parents went on a trip. Murphy took the girl to a sporting event and she said, while in the vehicle in the parking lot, he pulled his genitalia out and said, “Do you want to have some fun?”

But the woman said she hopped in back of the vehicle and made a call.

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Murphy took the stand during his trial and denied the allegations of sexual abuse and solicitation.

During the sentencing hearing Tuesday, Wilson heard from the victim and her parents before hearing from Murphy and his wife.

The woman's father told Wilson that his daughter was 8 years old when Murphy's abuse began and 12 when it stopped. While the abuse stopped physically, the emotional trauma continues. His daughter withdrew from family and friends and turned to alcohol and drugs to numb her pain, the father said.

Not a day goes by that he and his wife don't regret their decision to let Murphy help care for their children, and they blame themselves for not protecting their daughter, the father said.

Murphy broke their trust, he said.

The woman's mother told the judge that Murphy had told her she could trust him with her children and that if anyone hurt them, they would answer to him.

She said she couldn't imagine the fear her daughter faced as a child being sexually and mentally abused. The entire family has received counseling.

The mother told Wilson that she admires her daughter's "courage, strength and fight," while she continues struggling to overcome the childhood sexual abuse.

The victim in the case told Wilson she was a "sexual abuse survivor."

She said Murphy stole her childhood, and his actions continue to cause her anxiety and affect her family. For more than a decade, she said, she tried to numb her pain and has scars both visible and invisible to remind her of the violence she suffered.

The woman said she hopes her story will help others.

Deputy State's Attorney Sarah Mollett-Gaumer recommended the maximum 55 years in the case, realizing the judge could merge two of the three counts for sentencing purposes.

Mollett-Gaumer said Murphy used his status as a trusted family friend and Maryland State Police trooper to exploit the girl and convince her to remain silent about the abuse.

Referring to a pre-sentence investigation and psychological evaluation of Murphy, Mollett-Gaumer said Murphy shows no remorse or ability or acceptance for rehabilitation. He has not acknowledged that his conduct was wrong and paints himself as the victim, and that he's a victim of a conspiracy, she said.

Former Maryland State Police trooper maintains his innocence

Murphy told the judge that nothing is more important to him than his three children.

"I swear your honor, on the lives of my three children, that never in my life did I do any of the things that (the victim) has claimed in this case," Murphy said.

He asked for an extended local incarceration.

Defense attorney Tara LeCompte told Wilson that Murphy completed sexual offender treatment in 2008 after a 2007 conviction for possessing child pornography.

That earlier conviction also resulted in a pre-sentence investigation in which it was found that Murphy was at a "very low risk" to be sexually aggressive, she said.

LeCompte said Murphy has not reoffended since completing that program.

She listed several awards and honors Murphy received as a state trooper and that he is the father of three children. She also said a lengthy sentence could exacerbate Murphy's PTSD, anxiety and depression, at least some of which stem from a shooting incident that led him to retire on medical disability.

LeCompte asked Wilson to consider a sentence with an extended period at the Washington County Detention Center and, when he's released, five years of supervised probation.

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Wilson merged the sexual solicitation of a minor and the first count of sexual abuse of a minor convictions for sentencing. For those crimes, Wilson sentenced Murphy to 25 years in state prison, with five of those years suspended.

For the continuing course of conduct conviction, Wilson sentenced Murphy to a consecutive 30 years, suspending five of those years.

Noting the age of the victim at the time and that both sexual abuse convictions are crimes of violence, Wilson said Murphy must serve at least half of the state prison sentence before he could become eligible for parole.

Once he is released, Murphy would be supervised under a program for sex offenders. He is not to have any direct or indirect contact with the victim or her immediate family. Probation conditions also include not having unsupervised contact with minors.

LeCompte argued that Murphy cannot be ordered to register with the state's sex offender registry for the rest of his life because of what the law was at the time of the offenses. She said the registry requirement would be for 10 years.

Wilson said he would research the sex offender registry law and get back to the attorneys regarding how long Murphy has to register.

Jury did not hear about past child pornography possession case

Among the state’s witnesses were current and retired state police involved in the 2018 investigation after the woman came forward as an adult, as well as some involved in a 2007 investigation into Murphy.

While the jury heard about two search and seizure warrants served at Murphy’s home for the earlier investigation, and about numerous photos of the young clothed victim found at the home of Murphy and his wife, they did not hear that Murphy was convicted in 2007 on multiple counts of possessing child pornography.

LeCompte filed a motion on Nov. 9 seeking to exclude evidence of other crimes and the prior conviction, writing that it could “unfairly prejudice the jury.”

Murphy was sentenced in 2008 to a suspended one-year jail term and ordered to serve three years of supervised probation.

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According to a December 2007 Herald-Mail story about Murphy’s 2007 conviction, he had been a trooper for seven years and was assigned to road patrol duties at the Frederick barracks. He was suspended from duty that May.

Per the law firm that represented Murphy in December 2007, Murphy retired from the state police some time after the child pornography charges were filed against him, according to Herald-Mail archives. He retired on medical disability.

The victim's mother, on Tuesday, said "it still baffles me how a pedophile can collect disability (that) taxpayers' dollars pay for."

LeCompte, during the hearing, said Murphy's tenure as a trooper wasn't lengthy and he had a small pension.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Former Maryland police officer sentenced for sexual abuse of minor