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Man accused of sex assault

By EDDY RAMIREZ
Published March 17, 2007

CRYSTAL RIVER - A Leesburg man with a criminal record is in the Citrus County jail, accused of sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman who was staying at the Hayes Motel.

Jace Ryan Murphy, 37, was taken into custody Thursday on a felony charge of armed sexual battery. No bail was set.

Murphy, who was out on bail after being charged with aggravated battery and false imprisonment in Citrus, was staying at the motel on U.S. 19 and working there as a grounds keeper.

According to the Crystal River Police Department, this is what happened:

The woman was sitting outside her room, writing in her journal, when Murphy approached her Wednesday night.

The two struck up a conversation that went into the early morning hours.

The woman, who police are not identifying because of the nature of the crime, told Murphy she was going to bed.

But Murphy followed her into her room.

There, he pulled out a sharp object and put it to her throat. He had turned off the lights, so the woman couldn't tell whether the object was a knife or a screwdriver.

When she called police Thursday morning, the woman said Murphy had sexually assaulted her for several hours. She said he had threatened to kill her.

Police arrived at the motel at 6:30 a.m. and found Murphy in room 103.

He denied the sexual assault, telling police the sex had been consensual.

Investigators said they found signs of struggle inside the woman's room.

The woman was treated and released after the assault happened.

According to Murphy's criminal record, he has 58 arrests in Florida dating back to when he was 17.

In April, he was arrested in Lake County and accused of sexual assault. But the charge was dropped and he was released.

Murphy got into trouble in Citrus County on Jan. 29. He was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery and false imprisonment or kidnapping. But he was released.

No other information was available about the arrest.

Eddy Ramirez can be reached at eramirez@sptimes.com or 860-7305.

[Last modified March 16, 2007, 20:43:54]