No bail for former deputy charged with sexual battery on child

Former Wakulla deputy Kenneth Malphurs

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN Editor


A judge refused to set a bond amount for a former Wakulla deputy in jail on charges of lewd and lasicivous sexual assault on a child under 16.
Wakulla Circuit Judge Layne Smith said at a hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 11, that he was concerned that the former deputy, Kenneth Malphurs, had indicated he had considered suicide as a result of the charges. The judge also expressed concern that Malphurs’ seized phone had photos of law enforcement officers with FDLE working on the case as well as deputies and staff of the sheriff’s office and their families.
The judge said he had a number of concerns over those matters and found that Malphurs was a risk to himself and members of the community.
Malphurs is facing life in prison if convicted of the crime. He is currently being held in the Franklin County Jail and appeared at the hearing by Zoom.
Malphurs was a former school resource officer for the sheriff’s office. (There is no allegation that the sexual battery had anything to do with children he came in contact with as an SRO.) When the charges were first made, he was pulled from the school campus and worked as a corrections officer in the jail. As the investigation moved forward, he was placed on paid administrative leave. When charges were filed, he was terminated by the agency.
Defense attorney Stacy Sharp opened the hearing by requesting that the courtroom be cleared, noting that the victim’s family had invoked Marsy’s Law –  the constitutional amendment intended to protect crime victims.
Judge Smith noted there was media interest in the case and said he had to weigh Marsy’s Law against the First Amendment rights of a free press.
“You know the name of the victim,” the judge said to defense counsel, “the state certainly does, and I know... We don’t need to clear the courtroom if we can be disciplined enough not to name the victim.” He said the victim could be referred to as “the child.”
Wakulla Chief Prosecutor Andrew Deneen, presenting his case for why Malphurs should remain in jail, called Detective Ashley Hudson, who investigated the alleged sexual battery.
Hudson said the sheriff’s office of notified of the child’s claims of sexual battery in April 2021. The child came forward after taking part in a safety program at her school.
Malphurs phone was seized in August 2021, and Hudson testified about some of the searches that were found, including “Major Whaley,” the former head of criminal investigations, and “Brian Miller,” the former chief prosecutor and now county judge.
Hudson also testified that Malphurs used access at the sheriff’s office to look at her past case reports, specifically past sexual battery cases with children. The agency has a transaction log that records who looks at reports. Hudson said she went to her supervisor to request that Malphurs be blocked from accessing her reports.
On cross-examination, Sharp questioned some of the things included in Hudson’s report and what was left out.
Hudson noted some internet searches were left out that weren’t relevant. Sharp asked what was relevant about the search for “cryptocurrency” – and Hudson replied that it was connected to another investigation of Malphurs that is still ongoing. It’s not clear from the testimony in open court what that investigation is about, but appears to be related to online activities.