Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that TOBY MURCHISON was sentenced on Jan. 12 to 60 months in prison for conspiring to commit sex trafficking of a 16-year-old girl. MURCHISON was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti. MURCHISON previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Toby Murchison preyed on a 16-year-old girl who had run away from home. Murchison placed this young woman in harm’s way by conspiring to have her engage in commercial sex and benefited financially from her misfortune. It is difficult to imagine more outrageous conduct, and today’s sentence signals the tenacity with which this Office will prosecute those who take advantage of minor victims.”
According to the allegations contained in the Information and other court documents filed in White Plains federal court:
In or about April 2021, MURCHISON conspired with one or more people to recruit a 16-year-old victim (“Minor Victim-1”) to engage in commercial sex acts in and around Newburgh, New York. MURCHISON met Minor Victim-1, who had run away from home, in the Newburgh area. MURCHISON and a co-conspirator helped Minor Victim-1 to procure “dates” (i.e., meetings with men to engage in commercial sex acts) and then secured hotel rooms, including in Newburgh and Fishkill, in which Minor Victim-1 would meet the men for “dates” and perform sex acts in exchange for money. Minor Victim-1 then gave some or all of the proceeds from those commercial sex acts to MURCHISON.
In addition to his prison sentence, MURCHISON, 43, of Oneonta, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of Homeland Security Investigations New York, Resident Agent in Charge Hudson Valley, and the Dutchess County Sherriff’s Office.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Simon is in charge of the prosecution.
