Two Pearl River County men were arrested by the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department in March in relation to separate cases that involved sexual misconduct.

The first of the two cases led to the arrest of 68-year-old Murphy McGill, of 44 Miss Southern Rd., Poplarville. Chief Deputy Shane Tucker said the case was reported to the department on March 16, and alleged that a male and female, aged 5 and 2 respectively, had been molested by McGill over a month’s time between February and March. The alleged offenses occurred while the children were staying with McGill.

Tucker said a thorough investigation took place and included a forensic interview with the children.

Based on that investigation, a warrant was issued for McGill’s arrest. He was taken into custody on March 28, for the offenses of touching of a child for lustful purposes and three counts of sexual battery.

Tucker said that McGill is a convicted sex offender, due to a previous conviction out of Forrest County from sometime in the 1980s.

A second case involved the arrest of Larry P. Stockstill, 47, of 7 L.D. Stockstill Lane for the offenses of exploitation of a minor and attempt to commit enticement of a child.

Tucker said investigation into this case began after the mother of a 15-year-old female found inappropriate text messages on her daughter’s phone from Stockstill. The investigation showed that the two began texting each other regularly on March 10 after Stockstill performed mechanic work at the family home in the Picayune area.

While the mother had possession of her daughter’s phone, Stockstill sent a sexually explicit photo to the 15-year-old, and requested one in return, Tucker said. The mother reported the incident to the department on March 12 and an investigation followed.

As a result of that investigation, Stockstill was arrested on March 19.

Tucker said he would like to commend the mother in this case for her diligence to monitor her daughter’s cellphone.

“I give a lot of credit to her for preventing something worse from happening,” Tucker said.