Former college athletic trainer facing 32 sexual abuse charges stemming from treatment sessions with student athletes
The former director of sports medicine at North Carolina State University (NC State) has been indicted on nine charges of sexual contact or penetration under the pretext of medical treatment and 23 misdemeanor charges of sexual battery.
Robert Murphy Jr., 54, is specifically accused of making sexual contact with male student athletes under the guise of treatment. ESPN was the first to report his arrest.
According to inmate information on the Marion County (North Carolina) Sheriff’s Office website, Murphy was arrested in Ocala, Florida on Wednesday. Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told the Raleigh News & Observer that her office is awaiting a decision on whether Murphy will fight extradition to North Carolina.
Murphy has denied the allegations through his attorney, Jarod Hammett. Another of Murphy’s Raleigh-based attorneys, Seth Blum, previously said their client was falsely accused and there was not ‘one scrap of credible evidence he assaulted anyone.’
This marks the fist criminal action stemming from the accusations, which first appeared in federal, state and Wake County civil courts in recent years. Hammett contends that the lawsuits filed by more than 30 former athletes are fueled by attorneys eyeing large settlements from the school.
‘Those who brought this suit think if they shout sexual abuse loudly, people will stop listening to the obvious,’ Hammett told The News & Observer in June. ‘Maybe they’re right.’
Robert Murphy Jr., 54, is specifically accused of making sexual contact with male student athletes under the guise of treatment. ESPN was the first to report his arrest
A North Carolina judge dismissed the class-action lawsuit against Murphy and multiple school officials in June due to procedural issues, but the players’ attorneys have since appealed that dismissal. In total, 29 plaintiffs filed the lawsuit as a ‘John Doe’ to protect their identities.
Murphy is accused of improperly touching athletes’ genitals during massages as well as intrusive observation while collecting urine samples for drug tests.
An attorney representing the plaintiffs in the civil complaint said the charges support her clients’ claims.
‘Our fight for these men and others expected to come forward will not stop until Murphy and NC State stand accountable to these young men and to the people of North Carolina. Anything less is unthinkable,’ attorney Kerry Sutton wrote in a statement.
‘These charges against Rob Murphy validate Ben Locke and 33 other former Wolfpack athletes and bolster their claims of being sexually abused at NCSU. Our fight for these men and others expected to come forward will not stop until Murphy and NC State stand accountable to these young men and to the people of North Carolina. Anything less is unthinkable.’
