Mississippi man loses second appeal of conviction for sexting Hillsborough teen
HILLSBOROUGH - A Mississippi man has lost his second appeal of his conviction on charges of sending obscene texts to a 14-year-old township girl.
Thomas Pumphrey, 65, has been released from South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton after he served an eight-year sentence on charges of endangering the welfare of a child, stalking, criminal sexual contact and contempt of court for violating a no-contact order with the victim. He was acquitted of attempted sexual assault.
Pumphrey's first appeal of his conviction was denied by a state Appellate Court. He then filed a second appeal claiming he had ineffective counsel and should not be listed on a sex offender registry.
A state Appellate Court last week upheld a Superior Court ruling denying that appeal.
The Appellate Court ruled that Pumphrey had failed to offer "competent evidence" that his attorney failed to fully investigate the case.
More: Man charged with stalking Hillsborough sexting victim
The court also wrote that evidence on Pumphrey's phone "overwhelmingly proved" his guilt.
The court also noted that Pumphrey had voluntarily given police a statement in which he admitted communicating with the teenager and knowing she was underage.
Pumphrey of Hernando, Miss., was charged by the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office in August 2013 with attempted sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal sexual contact.
The investigation revealed that starting in February 2013, Pumphrey pretended to be a 19-year-old bodybuilder from Alabama while communicating online with the girl. Pumphrey sent graphic videos and photographs of his genital area to the teen’s cell phone.
Less than a month after posting $75,000 bail, Pumphrey sent the teen a direct message by Instagram with numerous photographs of Pumphrey and posts about the victim.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Man loses appeal of conviction for sexting Hillsborough teen
