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WARREN -- William M. Murphy, 58, was sentenced to 5 1/2 to 7 1/2 years in prison Monday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court for walking away from a halfway house in February and failing to register a change of address as a convicted sex offender -- for the third time.
Judge Sarah Kovoor said the sentence was necessary to protect the community and Murphy's history of sexual assault and not reporting to authorities. Murphy has had addresses in various Trumbull County communities since 2008.
Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Gabe Wildman said Murphy's current conviction for failure to notify the sheriff of a change of address is the third time he has committed this felony offense.
Murphy has been under parole supervision since November of 2022, after serving 3 to 4 1/2 years in prison for a 2020 conviction of failing to notify authorities of a change of address, according to prosecutors.
Murphy was convicted in January of 2009 after pleading guilty to a felony charge of gross sexual imposition involving a juvenile and was sentenced to one year in prison. He was living on Circle Street in Niles at the time.
In December of 2009, he was indicted on a rape charge involving a juvenile that carried a possible life prison sentence if convicted. He was living on Kenilworth Avenue in Warren at the time, and the offense occurred in September of 2008, according to court records.
Murphy pleaded guilty in January of 2010 to a first-degree felony rape charge that did not carry a possible life sentence and was sentenced in February of 2010 to five years in prison.
In July of 2015, he was homeless and living under the Summit Street Bridge in Warren when he was charged with failing to notify the sheriff of his change of address, a first-degree felony. In October of 2015, he pleaded guilty to that offense and was sentenced to four years in prison, according to court records.
In December of 2019, Murphy had an address on North Park Avenue on Warren when he was again indicted on first-degree felony failure to notify the sheriff of a change of address for an Oct. 31, 2019, offense.
He pleaded guilty to an amended count of failure to notify of a change of address and was sentenced in March of 2020 to 3 to 4 1/2 years in prison.
The newest charges -- also failure to register his address as a sex offender, plus "escape," meaning walking away from a detention facility -- were filed in February of 2026 when his address was listed as the Trumbull County jail.
Murphy must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Murphy had an address on Indiana Street in Niles when he pleaded guilty to a felony receiving stolen property charge in 2002 in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.