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KSP: Estill Co. Teacher Charged After Boyfriend Contacts Student

Posted at 10:04 AM, Apr 05, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-05 17:53:32-04

ESTILL COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) – The teacher who police say knew that her boyfriend was sending inappropriate messages to a student has been charged.

Kentucky State Police say that Sherry Murphy knew that Torstein Torseteinson was communicating with an Estill County High School Student for the purpose of having sex.

An investigation revealed that Torsteinson contacted the teen for sex in September 2018, but was unsuccessful. He eventually made contact with the juvenile by having a relationship with Murphy, the school’s Spanish teacher. Police say despite knowing of the contact, Murphy did not report it. Instead, authorities say she deleted messages sent to the student.

Torsteinson is facing one charge of unlawful transaction with a minor and tampering with physical evidence.

Murphy was arrested and charged with unlawful transaction with a minor, tampering with physical evidence, and failure to report child abuse. She was supposed to be taken to Three Forks Detention Center, but she is suffering from a back injury and could not be taken to jail. Murphy instead posted a $10,000 unsecured bond.

Superintendent Jeff Saylor said that Murphy resigned Wednesday.

“The sad part about it is, we had a member of our staff that knew this was going on and they failed to report,” said Saylor.