Guilty plea entered in online sex sting case

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- A Farmington, Mo., man caught in a Bollinger County sex sting targeting online predators pleaded guilty to attempted statutory rape.

Edward M. Murphy, 43, entered his guilty plea Friday during an appearance before Judge William Syler.

Murphy began having conversations with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl via the Internet after meeting on the Web site MySpace.com in March. The "girl" in reality was a Bollinger County sheriff's deputy.

In late April, the conversations turned sexual, and Murphy said he wanted to have sex with the girl, deputy Kevin Otte testified during a preliminary hearing in May.

During the conversations, Murphy was told as many as five times the girl was 13 years old, Otte said.

Murphy asked for and was given directors to Zalma, Mo., where the girl supposedly lived. When he arrived at the home April 30, Murphy was arrested by authorities. Inside his vehicle, police found a map of the area and 10 condoms.

Sentencing before Syler was scheduled for 2 p.m. Sept. 22.