A man accused of groping teenage girls when he chaperoned a church camping trip appeared in court Friday.... Elijah Curtis Murphy, 28, of St. Paul is charged with one count of second-degree criminal sexual contact with girls under 16 while in a position of authority. The charge has a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and a $35,000 fine. Police say Murphy approached two girls, ages 13 and 14, from behind and grabbed their breasts during the week of June 12, 2006. He was later hiking behind a third girl, 15, pretended to slip on the trail and cupped a hand over her breasts. Police asked Murphy why he thought he was being questioned, and Murphy immediately said it was because of the camping trip. He admitted the feigned trail slip, saying he didn’t “intentionally do anything wrong.”
Murphy feigned the slip but didn't intentionally do anything wrong—so the fall was intentional but the cupping of breasts, Murphy's fifth and sixth that week, was a happy accident, a coincidence, a small miracle. God had a plan for Murphy's hands and who are the St. Paul police to question God's divine will?
