Doctor asking mom to date her 5-year-old is nabbed in online sting, FL cops say
A Michigan family medicine doctor had “stomach churning” plans when he began messaging a “mom” for permission to groom her 5-year-old daughter, according to investigators in Florida.
Dr. William J. Murdoch was arrested Sept. 2 by U.S. Marshals in Monroe County, Michigan, after it was revealed he had been communicating online with a detective investigating internet crimes against children, the Port St. Lucie Police Department said in a news release.
Murdoch, 45, is being held without bond and faces extradition to Florida to face a charge of “soliciting a parent to consent to the participation of sexual conduct involving a child,” police said.
“A ... detective, working in an undercover capacity, started the investigation in June 2025 when the suspect, Dr. William J. Murdoch, began chatting online with our undercover ‘Mom.’ Murdoch, was pursuing a platonic relationship with the fictitious mom to see if she would allow her 5-year-old to be courted by and have a sexual relationship with him,” police said.
“During the course of the investigation, stomach churning messages were exchanged that entailed his plan to groom the child and quickly turn the situation sexual. Murdoch goes into detail of his demented behavior that is too explicit to share in its entirety; However, it varied in having a sexual relationship in multiple ways.”
A forensic examination of Murdoch’s iCloud and online messages linked to him revealed “his training as a medical professional would assist in other alarming dark web hunts,” police said.
“This again is too explicit to share in its entirety; However, it entails conversations of: conception, full term abortions, and intentional drug and alcohol use to cause birth defects,” police said.
Murdoch is listed on Medifind.com as “a primary care provider, practicing in Family Medicine in Monroe,” Michigan.
Port St. Lucie is about a 115-mile drive north from Miami.
This story was originally published September 4, 2025 at 10:19 AM with the headline "Doctor asking mom to date her 5-year-old is nabbed in online sting, FL cops say."