Posted on 02/21/2007 9:10:04 AM PST by Jalapeno
By RENÉE C. LEE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
CONROE — Twenty years after a 13-year-old Conroe girl was sexually assaulted, Montgomery County prosecutors have declared the case closed.
But her attacker will not face prosecution.
A second round of DNA test results showed last week that Charles Mumphrey committed the crime for which his brother served 18 years in prison.
''It's a closed case," Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Marc Brumberger said. He noted that the statute of limitations has expired.
"Unfortunately justice was not served for any brother."
In an interview Tuesday, Charles Mumphrey said he participated in the sexual assault and he apologized to the victim, her family and his older brother, Arthur Mumphrey, 43, who was sent to prison for the crime.
A Montgomery County jury found Arthur Mumphrey guilty of aggravated sexual assault, and the judge sentenced him to 35 years on Aug. 12, 1986.
Charles Mumphrey said he has not talked to his brother since Arthur's release from prison Jan. 26, 2006. DNA testing not available 20 years ago proved that Arthur Mumphrey was not one of the two male suspects in the case.
The other suspect, Steve Thomas, agreed to a plea and received a 15-year sentence for testifying against Arthur Mumphrey.
Charles Mumphrey, 36, says he was young and made a mistake when he attacked the girl on Feb. 28, 1986.
Then 14 years old, Charles Mumphrey said, he was hanging out with Thomas, an older teenager, the night of the attack. The two had been drinking wine and smoking pot near the railroad tracks in south Conroe when Thomas spotted the 13-year-old girl, he said.
He said Thomas called him over to join him in sexually assaulting the girl at knifepoint.
Charles Mumphrey said he told family members what he had done and they encouraged him to tell the police, which he did. But he said police were more interested in arresting his brother and accused him of making up the story to cover for his brother.
Conroe police officer Roosevelt Lasker, who was a detective on the case in 1986, said in an interview last year that Arthur Mumphrey and Thomas were the only suspects until Charles Mumphrey came forward and said he was involved. Lasker said Charles Mumphrey later recanted his story. But Charles Mumphrey insists that he was coerced by police to change his story.
Charles Mumphrey's second confession came in January 2006 during a jail interview with a district attorney's investigator, a week after DNA test results exonerated Arthur Mumphrey. Charles Mumphrey was serving a one-year sentence on a car theft conviction. He was released in April.
''I'm really sorry for what happened to the girl and I apologize to her and her family," said Charles Mumphrey. "I have two daughters myself. If I could ever replay that night, it would have never happened."
He said for the past 20 years, he has been torn up inside knowing that his brother paid the price for his crime.
Charles Mumphrey, who lives in Conroe, said he hopes his brother will forgive him one day. Arthur Mumphrey could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
''It was like a cancer eating me up," he said. ''I cried many times about it. I thank God he's home."
renee.lee@chron.com
Couldn't have been torn up too much, he let his brother serve his time. MSM trying to portray this scumbag as a victim.
Houston is about as bad as New Orleans when it comes to police investigation. If you have crime to commit Houston should be a first option.
I am not generally one for vigilante justice but......if ever there was a case that I would turn a blind eye to, it would be this guys suspicious demise.
Well, I bet that will be a fun family reunion to attend.
There should be no statute of limitations for rape, period!
[Houston is about as bad as New Orleans when it comes to police investigation. If you have crime to commit Houston should be a first option.]
Careful. Houston is also the citizen's shooting BG capitol of America. More criminals are shot by citizens in Houston than any other city in the nation.
I don't have stats and am only going by DaveLoneranger posts here on FR.
''It was like a cancer eating me up," he said. ''I cried many times about it. I thank God he's home."
What a crock! If he was so torn up about it why didn't he make a point of having his brother freed by telling the truth.
Look for a spike in brother-on-brother crime statistics soon.
Yeah I live there, and I know that too. Everyone carries guns here except children. But that doesn't disuade some people from sticking up the Liquor Store or in some cases the Gun Store - but natural selection rids us of those. However if they are successful, they have a damn good chance of getting away with it, as the Police here are just well how do you say....Stupid.
>>Charles Mumphrey said he told family members what he had done and they encouraged him to tell the police, which he did. But he said police were more interested in arresting his brother and accused him of making up the story to cover for his brother. <<
This is the core problem here.
With brothers like that you need no enemies.
Houston had nothing to do with this crime or its investigation...!!!
He was only 14 at the time, a mere child...
Or, in any crime that DNA is a factor proving guilt or innocence, the statute of limitations is lifted.
Sad case.
I suppose Conroe had a crime lab at that time? I'm pretty sure they didn't, then the forensic investigation was more than likely done by the notoriously incompetent HPD crime lab. Unless they sent the stuff to DPS, which is unlikely.
It maybe just my opinion, and I am casting a broad swath, but cops in this area are basically barely literate guard dogs with guns, oh and now tasers.
Plea agreements are the cause of much injustice. Ignorant, but innocent men, facing potential life behind bars accept them in fear, while guilty men like this one use them to punish the innocent while reducing their own punishment. I wish they were abolished.
Allow me to add "lazy" and "quick to anger".
Arthur was 21 at the time. Isn't it more likely that Arthur was with "an older teenager", drinking wine and smoking pot, not his 14-year-old brother? Arthur, an adult, is in deep doo-doo.
So Charles makes up the story to get his brother off. He's thinking, how much of a punishment would a 14-year-old get for having sex with a 13-year-old? Probation? Maybe?
The cops ain't buyin' it. Furthermore, Steve fingers Arthur (not Charles).
But the DNA! The DNA! Did the DNA show that Steve raped the girl? No. Did it show that Charles raped the girl? No. After 20 years of sitting on the shelf degrading, it showed that it wasn't Arthur. Uh-huh.
"The other suspect, Steve Thomas, agreed to a plea and received a 15-year sentence for testifying against Arthur Mumphrey."
This guy ought to go back to prison for his role in this injustice.
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