Rapid City Man Sentenced For Attempted Sex Trafficking

United  States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Attempted Trafficking with Respect to Involuntary Servitude and Forced Labor was sentenced on January 27, 2014, by Chief Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.

Eric Murphy, age 28, was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.  Murphy will also be required to register as a sex offender.

On August 3, 2013, as part of a sex-trafficking undercover operation during the Sturgis Bike Rally, Murphy was arrested for attempting to obtain sex with a 12-year old girl.  Murphy responded to a law enforcement-generated Internet advertisement which advertised sex with a fictitious 12 or 13 year-old girl and negotiated the terms of the sexual encounter.  Murphy then met with an undercover agent posing as the pimp who could provide the young girl, and he was subsequently arrested. 

The investigation was conducted by the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Rapid City Police Department, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, and the Meade County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Collins prosecuted the case.  

Murphy was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.