The head football coach at Langley High School in McLean has been suspended after he was charged in Maryland with soliciting sex from a teen girl.
David Clay Murray, 48, was arrested in Fairfax County and charged by the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office last Friday (Aug. 9) with five counts of sexual solicitation of a minor, the sheriff’s office said in a press release issued yesterday (Monday).
According to the sheriff’s office, Murray contacted one of its Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) section detectives who was posing as a 15-year-old girl through a mobile messaging app on Aug. 1.
“The detective informed Murray several times throughout the conversation that he was speaking with a 15-year-old female,” the sheriff’s office said. “Murray continued to engage in a sexual conversation, with the undercover detective, soliciting numerous sex acts.”
The interaction led the sheriff’s office to obtain a warrant for Murray and contact the Fairfax County Police Department, which arrested him. As of yesterday, Murray was still in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, awaiting extradition to Frederick County.
A Fairfax County Public Schools spokesperson confirmed Murray has been suspended. FCPS Superintendent said in a letter to families that there’s no information indicating Fairfax County residents or students were involved, the Washington Post reported.
“We understand this will come as a shock to our community,” Reid said in a statement. “We are doing everything we can to address this situation.”
According to the Gazette Leader, Murray has taught in FCPS for over two decades and was first hired at Langley High School in 2020 as a computer programming teacher and its head football coach.
Murray is no longer listed in Langley’s staff directory or as the varsity head coach on the school’s athletics website.
“Right now I can tell you he is suspended,” the FCPS spokesperson reiterated when asked whether the removal of his name means Murray is being terminated.
In his office’s press release, Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins described the investigation as “a very good example of agency cooperation and information sharing across state lines to take an offender off the street”
“The public should know that Sheriff’s Office detectives are handling an increasing number of these types of cases, which should be alarming to parents,” Jenkins said. “I will also take this opportunity to reinforce to parents to pay close attention to what their minor children are involved in on mobile apps, websites, and social media platforms.”
The Langley Saxons are scheduled for a scrimmage against Manassas’ Colgan High School on Friday (Aug. 16). Their first game of the season will be at home against Oakton High School on Aug. 29.
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