Exeter Man Traveled To Connecticut For Sex With Minor: Connecticut US Atty

EXETER, RI — An Exeter man pleaded guilty in Hartford federal court on Monday to one count of traveling to engage in illegal sexual activity with a minor. According to Deirdre M. Daly, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Nicholas Murphy, 27, of Exeter, met the victim, who is a minor, on-line, using platforms that included Facebook. She reportedly told him she was 16, but she was actually younger.

Although the victim's exact age was not divulged, according to the U.S. Attorney's office, she was older than 13, but not 16. Murphy traveled from Rhode Island to meet her in Connecticut. At least one time, they had sex in his truck.

"On the evening of September 16, 2015, after communicating on Facebook," according to court papers, he drove from Rhode Island to Connecticut to meet the victim. He knew that the victim was sneaking out of her home without her parents’ knowledge to meet him. He 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 was released on $150,000 bond and is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 13. He could face 30 years in prison. He was arrested on related state charges on May 9, 2016. The FBI, the Plainfield Police Department, Rhode Island State Police and the U.S. Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations worked on the case.

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