DONIPHAN, Mo. -- A former Gatewood, Mo., school bus driver was charged Thursday afternoon with having inappropriate sexual contact with a female student.
Kerry Benard Murphey, 44, of Gatewood was charged with the Class D felony of sexual contact with a student by Ripley County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kacey Proctor.
The complaint filed with the court alleges between June 1, 2016, and June 30, 2016, Murphey, who was an employee of the Ripley County R-3 School District, knowingly had sexual contact with a student at Couch School.
After Associate Circuit Judge David Swindle issued a warrant for Murphey's arrest, he was arrested at 6:20 p.m. by the Missouri State Highway Patrol in Ripley County and subsequently booked at the Wayne County Jail. Murphey's bond was set at $25,000 cash or surety.
According to patrol Trooper Matthew Foster's probable-cause affidavit, Ripley County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Miller requested an investigation of Murphey, who was a Gatewood school bus driver, on Feb. 22.
"Prosecutor Miller sent a letter of request for a special investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by a school employee," Foster wrote. "Murphey had been terminated from his position for the allegations of sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old female."
According to information from the Ripley County R-3 School District, Foster said, Murphey was an "at-will employee" for the district.
Principal Allen Woods, Foster said, reported he had contacted Murphey in March 2016 and asked if he wanted to continue driving a school bus for the district.
"Murphey consented to return to work and drove a school bus for Ripley County R-3 School District during the 2016 year," Foster said.
On Feb. 23, Foster, as well as Sgt. Scott Stoelting and Trooper Shannon Sitton, interviewed a relative of Murphey's, who had taken photographs of "Kerry's inappropriate Facebook conversation" with a female.
The photographs reportedly were provided to Foster, who indicated the female was a student at Couch High School.
The officers, Foster said, also interviewed the student, who reported she was 17 at the time of the alleged sexual contact with her bus driver, identified as Murphey.
Foster said the teen reported the location where the inappropriate contact occurred. The location reportedly was not on school property.
The teen, he said, alleged Murphey had had deviate sexual intercourse with her, as well as sent sexually-explicit photographs and videos of himself to her Facebook account.
On the same date, Foster said, they also interviewed Murphey at the Doniphan Police Department, and he admitted to the allegations.
Murphey reportedly agreed to have his cellphone digitally analyzed; however, it was found "(he) had deleted all the content off" of the phone.
Murphey is to appear at 9 a.m. Wednesday before Swindle for arraignment on the charge.