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Retiree arrested for allegedly sexually abusing 4-year-old girl
54-year-old also said to have victimized 2 other women when they were minors
A 54-year-old man was arrested on Monday night in Talafofo for allegedly sexually abusing a 4-year-old girl and two other women when they were still minors.
Michael Barry Murphy, a retired U.S. Army Reserve, was arrested for sexual abuse of a minor in the first degree, and assault and battery.
At a hearing yesterday, Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio increased to $50,000 cash bail from the initial $25,000 cash bail.
Preliminary hearing will be on Aug. 24 at 9am.
Kim-Tenorio ordered Murphy to hire his own lawyer after she found him not eligible for court-appointed counsel.
Assistant attorney general Chester Hinds appeared for the government at the hearing.
According to a police report, the 4-year-old girl is the daughter of a 20-year-old woman, who alleged that Murphy also sexually abused her when she was 9 to 12 years old between 2005 and 2008.
The other woman, who is now 26 years old, is a relative of the mother-and-daughter victims. She alleged that Murphy also sexually abused her when she was 9 to 14 years old.
Police Detective Catherine B. Pangelinan stated in her report that she started the investigation on Monday at noon after she received a call from an official of the Department of Public Safety about a sexual abuse of a minor case.
Pangelinan said the 20-year-old woman, in an interview, stated she wants to file a complaint against Murphy who allegedly sexually abused her several times when she was 9 to 12 years old.
Pangelinan said the 20-year-old woman added that when she came back home last Aug. 5 at 2am, she was shocked and scared upon seeing Murphy sexually abusing her 4-year-old daughter in the room.
The mother then later took a video of her daughter, who was crying and telling her how Murphy touched her private parts.
Pangelinan said the 26-year-old woman in an interview was also crying and very emotional when she recalled how Murphy sexually abused her when she was 9 to 14 years old at a house in Capital Hill and in a jungle in Obyan.
