Balboa Island man gets 15 to life

Deepa Bharath

SANTA ANA -- A 54-year-old Balboa Island man will be locked away in

state prison for 15 years to life for inappropriately touching three

young girls, a judge ruled Friday.

Thomas Michael Murphy was sentenced Friday morning after a jury, in

November, found him guilty of four felony counts of a lewd act with a

child younger than 14 years of age and one misdemeanor count of

possessing child pornography.

Each of the felony counts includes an enhancement that states Murphy

committed the crimes with the intent of gratifying his sexual desires.

Newport Beach police arrested the former self-employed scuba

instructor on May 2, 2000, after seizing about 10,000 photographs and 200

movies from his computer at his Ruby Avenue home. Two girls, aged 9 and

an 11, came forward with the allegations.

Superior Court Judge Frank Fasel shot down each and every one of the

defense’s motions to salvage Murphy’s case, including a motion to declare

a mistrial.

Fasel said, contrary to defense attorney Fay Arfa’s motion, he did not

believe that the suggested sentence was “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Officials said Murphy started befriending his victims -- two

9-year-olds and one 11-year-old -- in December 1999, inviting them for

ice cream and other outings. They said he touched them inappropriately

and showed them the pornographic images.

Arfa argued that Murphy had not committed any violent crimes.

“It doesn’t seem fair that he should be getting a life sentence,” she

said. “It seems unfair that he’s going to be locked up with murderers and

violent criminals.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jana Hoffmann said Murphy’s actions and the

evidence presented to the court showed that he had a clear intention of

treating children as sexual objects.

Fasel agreed with the prosecutor’s statements.

“Considering the multiple victims and the nature of the crimes, there

does seem to be potential for future harm to other children,” he said.

Hoffmann said she is “satisfied with the sentence.” Murphy will not be

eligible for parole until he has served 85% of his 15 years sentence.

Dan Evanoff, who said he is Murphy’s friend of 20 years, said the

sentence seemed “very severe.”

“He’s a good person,” he said. “Now his life is over.”

Arfa said her client intends to appeal the decision.

“This was an unfair decision,” she said. “The touching was incidental

and it did not rise to the level of child molestation.”