Spokane man convicted of child porn receives more favorable prison sentence after appeal

A federal judge Wednesday shaved three years off the prison sentence of a Spokane man convicted of child pornography possession after an appellate court determined prosecutors “breached” a plea agreement .

U.S. District Judge Mary K. Dimke sentenced Paul A. Murray, 52, to 7½ years in prison, a three-year reduction from Murray’s original sentence imposed in 2022 by U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice. Murray pleaded guilty in March 2022 to the child porn charge before Rice handed down the sentence in October of that year.

According to court documents and proceedings, Murray had an interest in, downloaded and viewed child pornography depicting very young children dating back to 2013, according to a 2022 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Eastern District of Washington.

In 2017, federal agents downloaded child pornography files from a computer traced to Murray’s residence, the release said.

Agents then obtained and executed a search warrant at Murray’s residence, seizing a number of Murray’s computers, phones and storage media. Investigators discovered over 2 million internet searches for child pornography using commonly used terms for such searches. This was in addition to hundreds of child pornography images, videos, and anti-forensic software used to delete files on Murray’s devices.

Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that prosecutors agreed to recommend the low end of the sentencing guideline range of 9 to 11¼ years, but instead recommended the high end, which was the low end of the guideline range calculated by prosecutors and the probation office.

However, prosecutors never changed its recommendation after Rice set the low end range at 9 years, according to court records.

Dimke imposed the new sentence Wednesday after testimony from Murray’s family member that Murray sexually assaulted her when she was a child and admitted to her when she was in college that he wanted to have sex with her.

She said he also asked her a few months after he pleaded guilty to the child porn charge if she would help him write or edit a book on “social taboo,” or his sexual proclivities not accepted by society, the family member said.

The Spokesman-Review does not release the identity of sexual assault victims.

Dimke noted her serious concerns about Murray’s phone call to the family member, but also acknowledged his efforts before and during prison to engage in child porn and alcohol addiction treatment.

Murray’s family member, who is six years younger than Murray and who testified Wednesday, said the alleged sexual assault happened when she was about 5.

Murray told her he could read a book to her privately in a bedroom, she testified. He then shut and locked the door, had her lay on her stomach and he got on top of her, pressing himself against her backside while they were both clothed.

A few months after he pleaded guilty to the child porn charge in 2022 and before he was sentenced, Murray reached out to her by phone and told her he was going to be sentenced soon for child porn, which she was unaware of at the time.

“I was both horrified and not surprised,” she said.

Murray told her the government framed him, and as her mind spun, the family member said she interrupted Murray over the phone, telling him she remembered him sexually assaulting her and his statement about wanting to have sex with her years later.

She said Murray told her he knew she would remember those things and be “triggered,” but still asked her if she could write or edit a book with him on taboo sex.

She said she felt “violated” again by Murray’s request and told him she wasn’t the right person to edit a book like that with him.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Wick argued Murray’s phone call with his family member as well as claiming he was “framed” showed a lack of accountability and remorse for his child sex crime he had just pleaded guilty.

“Mr. Murray doesn’t really think he’s done anything wrong,” Wick said.

Murray’s attorney, Andrea George, said Murray had no obligation to accept responsibility for the crime with his family member. His only obligation was to be truthful to the court, she said.

“This is inflammatory retort,” George said.

Wick also said Murray violated his pretrial release conditions by having contact with minors, including taking a photo with a juvenile family member at a family event. He was allowed to be with his own children.

Dimke said the pretrial violations didn’t affect sentencing guidelines.

Wick recommended a 9-year prison sentence while George and her co-counsel, Amy Rubin, recommended five years. Murray has served about 2½ years, mostly at a federal prison in Colorado.

Rubin argued her client’s lack of criminal history as well as other defendants with similar child porn cases as Murray receiving five-year prison sentences as reasons for their sentencing recommendation. Rubin said Murray also sought treatment well before he was sentenced and continues that treatment in prison while performing other work behind bars to better himself.

Murray, wearing yellow Spokane County Jail clothing, said this process has been “heartwrenching” to revisit and in some ways wishes he never appealed for a new sentence.

“It hurts a great deal to revisit this,” he said.

Murray said the crime has greatly affected his own children and “perpetuated” the child porn victims’ “pain and suffering.” He also apologized to the family member who testified.

Dimke imposed 15 years of federal supervision when he’s released from prison, 10 years more than what Rice imposed.