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  Former Church Leader Sentenced to 30 Years for Abusing Boys

The Associated Press, carried in ABC 13 [Houston TX]
August 3, 2005

A former Catholic Church choir director was sentenced to 30 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting three brothers over the past decade.

Stuart Murphy, 57, pleaded guilty Tuesday to five felony sexual abuse charges.

The judge sentenced Murphy to 30 years on each of two aggravated sexual assault charges and 20 years on each of three indecency with a child charges. He will serve the sentences concurrently and will be eligible for parole after 15 years. Murphy met the victims at Annunciation Catholic Church in Houston, where he began working in 1993. He befriended the boys and their family and began molesting the oldest child 10 years ago when he was 12 and the youngest when he was 6, prosecutor Denise Oncken said.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston fired Murphy following his March arrest. Murphy had worked as a Catholic school teacher and church volunteer for 25 years.

"This is a day that he knew was coming," Murphy's defense attorney, Brett Podolsky, said after the sentencing. "He knew what he was doing was wrong and he felt like he needed to take responsibility for his actions."