By Stephanie Farr & Ted Silary
Philadelphia Daily News
April 19, 2011
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/120185659.html
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The boys of Archbishop Carroll High School's baseball team stepped up to the plate yesterday and played their scheduled game, even after news that their coach, Fran Murphy, who also served as the school's athletic director, had been arrested for sexually propositioning an underage boy.
"We talked with the kids about playing and it was their decision as well," said principal Joseph Denelsbeck. "Our goal is to make sure that the children's lives are as unaffected as possible and that there's as much normalcy as possible."
But nothing was normal about the allegations Montgomery County prosecutors laid out against Murphy yesterday. The propositions he made to an underage boy this month on Facebook were more than out of bounds, investigators said.
They were foul.
Murphy, 39, wanted to be a "sugar daddy" to the boy, whom he once coached, police said. He wanted to buy the 17-year-old sports equipment in exchange for sexual favors and make it a "steady deal," according to court documents.
"Don't be nervous. I will take care of you. You ma mans," he allegedly wrote to the boy.
Murphy allegedly propositioned the teen over Facebook this month after the boy switched schools because of financial difficulties, court documents said.
Investigators created a new Facebook page using the victim's identity after the teen told his mother about the proposition, prosecutors said. Believing he was communicating with the victim, Murphy arranged to meet him at an ice-cream shop in Bridgeport on Friday and was instead met by police.
Murphy, of Bryn Mawr, also served as offensive coordinator for the school's football team.
The Rev. Edward Casey, Archbishop Carroll's president who is serving as interim baseball coach, said Murphy's arrest left him in "absolute shock" and "dismay."
"I've been around Fran a lot," he said. "I never could have predicted an event such as this."
Murphy has served as the school's athletic director since 1999 and passed all required background checks, school officials said.
"There were absolutely no indicators of this whatsoever," Denelsbeck said.
On RateMyTeachers.com, Murphy got generally positive comments from students.
"Good guy, He drove me home when I got a flat tire. Murph, you the man," one wrote last year.
Murphy was charged with unlawful contact with a minor, promoting prostitution and related offenses and remains jailed in lieu of $250,000 cash bail, prosecutors said.
He has been placed on administrative leave from the school pending the outcome of the case.
Contact: farrs@phillynews.com
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