HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle
By ZEKE MINAYA
Houston Chronicle
A Catholic summer school teacher and volunteer church choir director has confessed to sexually abusing two brothers — including at least one incident in a classroom — over a period of nearly 10 years, Harris County Sheriff's officials said Friday.
Stuart Alan Murphy, 57, who volunteered as a choir director for Annunciation Catholic Church in downtown Houston and taught summer school at the Cardinal Newman School, faces two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and four counts of indecency with a child, according to court records.
He was arrested Wednesday and remains in the Harris County Jail in lieu of $600,000 bail.
According to probable cause affidavits, the brothers were 6 and 12 when the alleged abuse began. The two are now 14 and 22. Both have given statements to investigators implicating Murphy, who was characterized in the affidavits as a "family friend."
"We are unaware and have not been informed of any incident of sexual abuse of a minor by this individual at any of our church properties," said Annette Gonzales Taylor, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. "We have been and continue to cooperate with law enforcement."
Posted by kshaw at April 2, 2005 04:28 AM