Nashville man sentenced on child pornography charges

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee man was sentenced on Oct. 13 to serve 72 months in prison and five years of supervised release, for one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. This sentence was the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Timothy Murphy, 67, of Nashville, was indicted on Oct. 13, 2010 of the above charges, which he pleaded guilty to on May 31.

The indictment charged that from June, 2009, through May, 2010, Murphy knowingly received and attempted to receive child pornography, and knowingly possessed a computer that contained images of child pornography. Murphy's collection contained 15,554 images and 219 videos of child pornography, including images of prepubescent minors and videos involving bondage of minors.

"The exploitation of children is despicable and we will go the extra mile to catch those individuals who prey on innocent victims," said Raymond R. Parmer, Jr., special agent in charge of ICE HSI in New Orleans. "Some predators mistakenly believe they can hide behind a computer screen and keyboard, but I can assure the public that we have computer savvy special agents with the expertise and technology to find them and bring them to justice."

At the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger sentenced Murphy to more than the sentencing guideline range for various reasons, including his characterization of his involvement in the offense as mere curiosity.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynne T. Ingram represented the government.

More information about HSI’s child exploitation mission