Former North Carolina State University athletic trainer Robert Murphy Jr. faces more than two dozen charges, including nine felonies, after being criminally indicted in Wake County on allegations of sexual contact under the pretext of medical treatment.
Murphy was already facing allegations in a 2022 civil lawsuit brought by dozens of former Wolfpack male athletes. He now faces nine counts of felony sexual contact under the pretext of medical treatment and 23 misdemeanor sexual battery counts. He was arrested Wednesday night and was being held in Marion County, Florida.
Other WRAL Top Stories
The charges stem from 14 different cases with offense dates listed as early as October 2016 and as late as September 2021, according to unsealed indictments posted Thursday evening.
Murphy was NC State’s Director of Sports Medicine from January 2012 to June 2022, when he resigned. Murphy was suspended from his position in January 2022.
A Wake County grand jury indicted Murphy on Sept. 14 in part on allegations that in the fall of 2020 he willfully committed a felony when, during the course of medical treatment, indicated that sexual contact between Murphy and an unidentified plaintiff was necessary and that the plaintiff’s health would benefit from the contact. Prosecutors allege that the act violated a North Carolina law prohibiting sexual contact under the pretext of medical treatment, according to documents viewed by WRAL.
Jared Hammett, a lawyer who represented Murphy in previous civil cases, said previously that Murphy would love the opportunity to clear his name. On Thursday, he and attorney Seth A. Blum said they were disappointed the case was brought.
“We are very disappointed that the Wake County District Attorney’s office would choose to prosecute based on a changing story,” Hammett and Blum said in a statement to WRAL. “Four years ago law enforcement concluded there was not enough to support charges. Apparently, after enough careful editing, someone came up with a story that got a prosecutor’s attention.
“We, as always, believe that when people hear the actual facts of what occurred, Mr. Murphy will be cleared and the truth will be paramount.”
NC State Chancellor Kevin Howell worked in the NC State administration all but two years since 2006 and became chancellor in 2025. He is a former NC State athlete.
“NC State does not tolerate sexual assault of any kind,” Howell told WRAL ahead of the NC State Board of Trustees meeting Thursday. “We care about our students. We care about our student athletes. That was something that happened, I believe, years ago, but we are fully cooperating with the investigation. We do not condone sexual assault of any kind. Period.
"I don't want to go into it because it's an ongoing case, and we're not allowed to talk about ongoing — this is a criminal case. But I just want our students to know, NC State does not condone sexual assault of any kind."
NC State issued a statement Thursday morning.
“Sexual misconduct of any kind is unacceptable,” NC State said in the statement. “The health and safety of students and student-athletes is paramount to NC State Athletics and the university. We are aware of the charges filed by Wake County against Robert Murphy. We will cooperate with law enforcement in this matter.”
In 2022, Murphy was sued in federal court by former NC State soccer player Benjamin Locke on allegations that Murphy touched the athletes’ genitals during treatments that didn’t require it. The case has since expanded to more than 30 athletes, who have accused Murphy of similar allegations. Locke and Parker Cross, also a former soccer player, are the only named plaintiffs in the civil suit. The rest are listed as John Doe.
According to the civil complaint, athletes in 2012 began complaining about Murphy’s “unnecessarily intrusive sample collection methods for mandatory drug testing.” By 2014, Murphy made male soccer players “very uncomfortable during deep tissue massage treatments on their groins and during drug test urine sample collections.” The civil complaint claims that knowledge about Murphy was widespread throughout the athletic department. By 2016, some in the department were concerned about “Murphy’s inappropriate sexual behavior towards the soccer players.”
In June, a Wake County judge dismissed a civil lawsuit filed by the athletes against Murphy and a host of NC State officials. Some claims made against the university officials must be handled by the North Carolina Industrial Commission, the judge wrote.
“These charges against Rob Murphy validate Ben Locke and 33 other former Wolfpack athletes and bolster their claims of being sexually abused at NCSU,” said Kerry Sutton, the attorney for the athletes in the civil case. “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.”
Sexual contact under the guise of medical treatment is a Class C felony in North Carolina and conviction carries a sentence of up to 182 months. Conviction under the statute requires mandatory registration as a sex offender. Sexual battery is a misdemeanor.
"We appreciate the hard work of law enforcement and the courage of the victims in this case,” Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said in a statement Thursday. “We are intent on seeking justice."