John Jefferson
Background: October 5, 2020 logo of social media Snapchat. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images). Inset: Terry Murphree booking photo (Blount County Sheriff’s Office).
Terry Lewayne Murphree, 39, an Alabama youth minister who allegedly threatened to kill himself and his ex-wife after the 13-year-old girl he is accused of raping refused to send him nude photos, has been arrested and charged with 17 crimes including first-degree rape and attempted sodomy.
Jail and court records reviewed by Law&Crime show Murphree, a resident of Blountsville, is accused of raping the teen multiple times. He faces several charges, including counts of clergy member having sexual intercourse with a child, human trafficking, electronic solicitation of a child, traveling to meet a child for sex and sexual abuse.
The church where Murphree worked as a youth minister was not named in court records, and repeated requests to identify the church were not confirmed to Law&Crime on Thursday.
Court records did not list an attorney for Murphree. He is being prosecuted by Blount County District Attorneys Pamela Casey and Scott Gilliland.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime, prosecutors say that Murphree began assaulting the teen around March 30 and that the assault continued into the second and third week of June. Police said Murphree raped or sexually assaulted her a minimum of seven times and a maximum of 15.
The human trafficking charge is specifically connected to an allegation that Murphree threatened to “kill himself and his wife if the victim of age 13 doesn’t send him nude photographs, videos of herself,” the records show.
His wife filed for divorced last month, according to AL.com.
The alleged assaults occurred in the church as well as at the girl’s residence.
Prosecutors say the youth minister used Snapchat to text messages to communicate with the victim. This was how they would “arrange meetings,” police said.
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