Ex-AD Pleads Guilty In Child Sex Case

Francis Murphy, the former athletic director at Archbishop Carroll High School, has pleaded guilty after he attempted to have sex with a male student.

The plea in the case happened on Tuesday, after Murphy was arrested in April 2011 in Bridgeport, Pa., in Montgomery County.

Murphy, 39, was arrested outside an ice cream store where police said he expected to meet the teen for sex. Murphy knew the teen from Radnor Township school and had contacted him on Facebook.

The teen and his mother alerted police, who then assumed the teen's online identity in a sting operation.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia put Murphy on leave as high school athletic director after the incident. Archbishop Carroll cut ties with Murphy this summer, when it didn't renew his contract.

Murphy faced charges of unlawful contact or communication with a minor, promoting prostitution, corruption of minors, attempted corruption of minors, and related offenses.

Prosecutors alleged that, in the ensuing Facebook communications, Murphy continued to request sexual favors in exchange for gifts and indicated that he wanted to meet the boy in person.

The Archdiocese said in April that all of the required criminal background checks and child abuse clearances were in place.

Murphy previously served as the boys' baseball coach and assistant football coach at Kennedy-Kenrick High School from 1996 to 1998.