Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that NICHOLAS MURPHY, 27, of Exeter, R.I., pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to one count of traveling to engage in illegal sexual activity with a minor.
Accord to court documents and statements made in court, MURPHY communicated with a minor victim through online platforms including Facebook. The victim told MURPHY that she was 16 years old when, in fact, she was younger than 16, but older than 13. In May and June 2015, MURPHY travelled from Rhode Island to Connecticut to meet the victim. On at least one occasion during this time, MURPHY engaged in illicit sexual conduct with the minor victim in his truck.
On the evening of Sept. 16, 2015, after communicating on Facebook, MURPHY drove from Rhode Island to Connecticut to meet the victim. MURPHY knew that the victim was sneaking out of her home without her parents’ knowledge to meet him. MURPHY picked up the victim in his truck and then drove to a secluded area where he and the victim engaged in illicit sexual conduct.
MURPHY is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant on Sept. 13, 2017, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years.
MURPHY was arrested on related state charges on May 9, 2016. He is released on a $150,000 bond.
This matter has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Plainfield Police Department, Rhode Island State Police and the U.S. Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy V. Gifford.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
