DONIPHAN — A former Gatewood school bus driver who had been accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with a female student will not stand trial on his charge.
Associate Circuit Judge Thomas Davis Swindle dismissed the charge against Kerry Benard Murphey on Tuesday after ruling no probable cause had been found to believe the Class D felony of sexual contact with a student had been committed by the 46-year-old, explained Ripley County Prosecuting Attorney Ted Thompson.
Murphey, who was an employee of the Ripley County R-3 School District, was charged with knowingly having sexual contact with a student at Couch School between June 1, 2016, and June 30, 2016.
The student, according to earlier reports, was 17 at the time, and the alleged misconduct did not occur on school property.
“We put on evidence to the judge, and the judge made a decision,” Thompson said. “That’s the court system working as it should.”
The state, according to docket entries on Casenet, had presented evidence during a Dec. 12 preliminary hearing.
Swindle, Casenet said, took the case under advisement at that time to give the state and Murphey’s attorney time to each submit a legal memorandum “with respect to the school issue.”
“What it came down to was her status as a student at that school … at the time of the offense,” Thompson said.
Casenet entries show “additional preliminary hearing (was) held on the record” on March 27, and again Swindle took the case under advisement.
At that time, Swindle ordered Murphey to appear at 9 a.m. Wednesday for a review of his case; however, Swindle dismissed Murphey’s case prior to his appearance.