A man accused of sexually assaulting a child in Lewis County in November pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two counts of third-degree rape of a child in Lewis County Superior Court.
The man, identified in court documents as Timothy Murphy, 45, of Centralia, additionally faces nine third-degree rape of a child charges in Thurston County Superior Court for allegedly assaulting the same child in Thurston County between 2021 and 2022.
Each charge is a class C felony punishable up up to five years in prison.
The victim reported the abuse on Nov. 7 with a text message to 911 dispatch that stated Murphy “was threatening to kill himself because he had been touching (the victim) inappropriately,” according to court documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court.
When contacted by law enforcement personnel, who “removed Murphy’s guns,” Murphy reportedly “indicated that he was not suicidal, that he was going for a walk and had the gun due to a bear,” according to court documents.
The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office filed the initial case against Murphy in Lewis County Superior Court on Nov. 8. The Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office filed its own case against Murphy in Thurston County Superior Court the next day, on Nov. 9.
Murphy was initially arrested in Lewis County and was booked into the Lewis County Jail on either Nov. 7 or Nov. 8, but was transferred to the Thurston County Jail after the Thurston County Prosecutor's Office filed its case.
Murphy posted $100,000 bail in the Thurston County case on Nov. 16 and has since pleaded not guilty to all charges.
He had his preliminary hearing on the Lewis County case on Jan. 10, where all parties agreed to allow Murphy to remain out of custody on $50,000 unsecured bail because of the bail he already posted in Thurston County and the conditions of release established in that case, which include having no contact with the victim.
“Mr. Murphy’s been pretty good about staying in contact with me … He’s been complying by all of his other conditions,” Murphy’s defense attorney, Eric Pilon, said Wednesday, adding, “I think this makes sense. It was pretty substantial bail that was posted.”
Trial for the Thurston County case is scheduled to begin on April 22. Trial for the Lewis County case is scheduled to begin March 18.
