A former member of the Central Bucks School District facilities staff has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility.
Robert Warren Murphy Jr., 28, of Perkasie, pleaded guilty to both felony charges on Feb. 28, court records show. He remains free on $200,000 unsecured bail while awaiting sentencing.
Murphy faces up to 10 years in state prison on the second-degree felony charge of possession of child pornography and a minimum 10-year registration period as a sex offender under Megan’s Law.
The investigation officially began on July 5, 2021, when members of the Bucks County Detective Bureau received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding a Google account that had been shut down after the user uploaded files containing “child erotica/anime and child sexual abuse material.” Videos recovered from the account depicted boys between the approximate ages of 8 and 13 years old being sexually abused and engaging in sexual activities, police said.
An initial look at the IP address showed it was registered to a Verizon account in Perkasie. Investigators said the account was later traced to a home along the 500 block of West Walnut Street, in which Murphy was listed as a resident.
According to the criminal complaint, county detectives reached out to the Perkasie Borough Police Department regarding their investigation, at which point Perkasie Police indicated they had received an anonymous call in early June stating a man named “Robert,” living on the 500 block of West Walnut Street, had been “flagged for kiddie porn videos” and his Google account had been flagged. The anonymous caller added that “Robert” worked at a school as a janitor, police said.
Detectives checked Murphy’s employment records and learned he had been employed by Central Bucks School District in the first quarter of 2022, with records also showing he had “been likely working for the district since 2020,” the report states. Investigators did not provide further information in the criminal complaint regarding Murphy’s role with the district, which facility he worked in, or if he was currently employed there.
On Aug. 26, 2022, Murphy met with investigators at his home and allegedly confessed to being sexually attracted to young boys, adding that he views videos of prepubescent and pubescent boys on the social media site Telegram. Murphy also confessed to possessing more than 100 videos of child pornography on his phone in a password protected app called Gallery Vault.
As the interview continued, Murphy reportedly acknowledged that his Google account had been closed because of child pornography and further stated he believed police were going to investigate and arrest him. Despite the belief that he would be arrested, investigators said Murphy did not delete all the files, and they were able to recover nearly 70 additional files from his phone, depicting the sexual abuse of boys as young as 1 to 2 years old.
Following Murphy’s arrest, Central Bucks School District Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh provided the following statement to North Penn Now, which was also subsequently emailed to all district families and employees:
Dear Central Bucks community,
I regret to inform you that Robert Murphy, Jr., a member of our district second-shift facilities staff, has been arrested on allegations of possession of child pornography. Upon notification of these charges, the district immediately placed Mr. Murphy on leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
During his time of employment, Mr. Murphy’s assigned hours were outside of the student school day. The circumstances of this arrest are not school-related, do not involve Central Bucks students, and Mr. Murphy is not alleged to have possessed these materials on school grounds.
Any additional questions regarding this ongoing investigation should be directed to the attention of the Bucks County District Attorney’s office.
A sentencing hearing for Murphy has been scheduled for May 24 at 9:30 a.m. at the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas.
See also:
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Hatfield Man Who Used Snapchat to Trade Child Pornography Sentenced to Probation
Local Man Accused of Indecent Assault of Young Girl While Babysitting Sentenced to Probation
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