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	Camp Counselor Gets 20 Years for Sexual Assault By Casey Knaupp Tyler Morning Telegraph [Texas] July 7, 2007 http://www.tylerpaper.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070707/NEWS08/707070309 Matthew Allen McMurray was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl while they were counselors at a Lindale camp last summer. McMurray, 21, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child/sexual contact. He was sentenced to 20 years on each charge by 7th District Judge Kerry Russell. The defendant, who had no prior criminal history, will serve the sentences at the same time, and will be eligible for parole after 10 years and will have to register as a sex offender. The victim's mother testified Friday that her daughter, who was 13 at the time of the incidents on Aug. 8 and 10 of 2006, was always outgoing and showed an interest in helping others, so she wanted to volunteer at the Timberline Baptist Camp for mentally disabled adults. She said her daughter was involved in sports, drama and made good grades. The teenager was full of life and was happy all the time. Since the incidents, her daughter's grades have fallen and she is not the same child emotionally, she said. She has nightmares and she is self conscious about what she wears and who is around her. The defendant's father, William McMurray Sr., said his son was attending Northwestern State University in Louisiana before he moved to Tyler to attend the University of Texas at Tyler on a music scholarship. He said McMurray had been taking medication for some time from the Andrew's Center and became a camp counselor because he enjoyed helping people. Dr. Tom Allen, a forensic psychologist who examined the defendant, testified for the defense that McMurray was not a sexual predator and was not a typical sex offender. He said he has no major mental illness or personality disorders and shows no aggression as most offenders do. He said McMurray has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and appears naIve and emotionally immature. The defendant said the victim was being aggressive and he tried to stay away from her. He also said he knew what he did was wrong, and Allen said he didn't believe the defendant was trying to minimize his conduct. Defense attorney Kurt Noell said both the victim and defendant acted inappropriately and both were warned by other counselors several times. He said the involvement of McMurray and the girl has changed McMurray's life forever and he will no longer be able to do the things he wanted to do. When confronted by camp counselors and then the police, McMurray admitted what happened, Noell said. He asked the judge to sentence McMurray to deferred adjudication probation. Assistant Smith County District Attorney Peter Keim told the judge the defendant tried to minimize his conduct. He said McMurray was a typical sex offender who took advantage of a 13-year-old girl. He said the girl may not have known better, but McMurray did, and he asked the judge to sentence him to prison. Judge Russell said the case was not typical of most cases he sees, but that probation would not be appropriate in the case. He said McMurray received plenty of instructions to curb his behavior and not go down the road he went down, regardless of what the victim was doing. He said McMurray was the adult and did what he wanted to do, disregarding repeated advice. During victim impact statements, the victim's mother said her daughter was supposed to be getting her first experience helping others as a camp counselor, but instead she was violated by a 20-year-old man, which changed her forever. She said she has had to go through nightmares, anger and confusion about what happened.
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