Former Boy Scouts Leader Sentenced to 33 Years in Prison for Child Exploitation Offenses

 Defendant used five separate Snapchat accounts to sexually exploit children

BOSTON – A former Boy Scouts Leader was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for sexually exploiting children via a social media app.

Matthew Murphy, 25, of Whitman, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Paul J. Barbadoro for the District of New Hampshire to 33 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release. In January 2020, Murphy pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual exploitation of children.

The investigation began when law enforcement learned that Murphy, posing as a teenage girl, used a Snapchat account to extort nude photographs from a Massachusetts middle school boy. Agents obtained portions of the Snapchat account Murphy had created in the fake identity and uncovered evidence of similar extortion of dozens of other minors in the area. Court records state that Murphy used five separate Snapchat accounts to sexually exploit at least 15 children. Murphy knew some of the children and their families through his connection to local Boy Scouts troops.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. The Whitman Police Department provided valuable assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti, Mendell’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Unit, prosecuted the case.