Archbishop John Carroll High School’s athletic director has been charged with allegedly soliciting a 17-year-old boy for sex after police set up a sting at an ice-cream parlor near the school.
Fran Murphy has been the athletic director at Archbishop John Carroll High School since 1999. During that time he served as the boy’s baseball coach and offensive coordinator of the football team.
A 17-year-old male student told authorities that Murphy was allegedly “sending him sexually suggestive messages on Facebook” about exchanging gifts for sexual favors. Murphy told the boy he would be his “sugar daddy,” according to a complaint filed by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office. Murphy allegedly requested that the messages should stay between them; but the boy told his mother, who then contacted police.
Montgomery County Detectives then posed as the boy on Facebook and set up a meeting with Murphy at the Frosty Falls Ice Cream Shop in Bridgeport. Murphy was arrested when he arrived.
According to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Murphy has been placed on administrative leave and was relieved of all of his duties. The Archdiocese say that all criminal-background and child-abuse checks and clearances were in place.
