Robert Murphy’s name first became public in a legal case when a former NC State athlete decided to speak what he allegedly endured at the program. Now the former Wolfpack sports medicine director is sitting in a Florida jail.

According to WRAL, Murphy was arrested in Ocala after a Wake County grand jury indicted him on 32 criminal counts tied to allegations involving former male student-athletes. He faces 23 counts of felony sexual battery and nine counts of felony sexual conduct. The indictment was handed down Sept. 14 and kept sealed until authorities found him. The criminal case, though, is the newest part of a story that has been building since 2022.

The grand jury found that through fall 2020, Murphy engaged in felony sexual conduct during medical treatment. As per WRAL, he allegedly indicated to an unidentified plaintiff that sexual contact between him and the plaintiff was necessary for treatment.

Murphy allegedly also indicated that doing so would benefit the plaintiff’s health. This conduct reportedly violated a North Carolina law prohibiting sexual contact under pretext of medical treatment. The lawsuits started with Ben Locke in 2022.

Locke was a men’s soccer player at NC State when he alleges Murphy abused him during treatment. He filed a criminal complaint with campus police in 2022, and the allegations eventually became public through a lawsuit. Then other athletes started coming forward.

Three former athletes filed individual lawsuits in 2022 and 2023. By February 2026, 31 former athletes had become plaintiffs in the civil case. They came from eight different men’s sports, according to their attorney.

Two more former athletes have said they intend to join. That is what makes the arrest difficult to view as an isolated allegation from years ago. The former athletes have described similar conduct.

Their lawsuit alleges that Murphy touched athletes’ genitals during treatments that did not require it. It also alleges intrusive conduct during urine testing. The accusations span several years during Murphy’s time at NC State.

“Our fight for these men and others expected to come forward will not stop until Murphy and NC State stand accountable. Anything less is unthinkable,” Kerry Sutton, the athletes’ attorney in the civil case, said.

Murphy worked at NC State from 2012 until his resignation in 2022. The university suspended him in January of that year. There was also a university investigation.

NC State opened a Title IX investigation into Locke’s allegations in 2022. According to documents obtained by ESPN, Murphy had made repeated nonconsensual sexual contact with Locke during therapeutic massage sessions.

The investigation concluded that the conduct was unwelcome, sexual in nature, and sufficiently severe to violate university policy. That investigation dealt with only Locke’s allegations. The criminal charges now bring a different legal standard into the picture.

Murphy’s attorney has denied the allegations. After a judge dismissed the athletes’ civil lawsuit in June, attorney Jared Hammett said his client had spent his career working with athletes and argued that the case had become a rush to judgment.

“Mr. Murphy would love to have the opportunity in some ways to clear his name,” Jared Hammett said in June. “These statutes of limitations exist for a reason, and he shouldn’t have to defend this suit at all. 

“He shouldn’t have to pay money to defend this suit in this situation. I know that a lot of people have already jumped to the conclusion that he’s done what people say that he did because there’s a complaint that’s out there.”

The June ruling itself did not determine whether Murphy sexually abused the athletes. Wake County Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins dismissed the civil claims against Murphy because of a particular legal provision.

The criminal case continued with serious allegations against NC State officials

The judge had found that the statute of limitations had expired. Claims involving NC State officials were also dismissed on procedural and jurisdictional grounds. So the civil case stopped without a trial on the allegations. The criminal investigation did not.

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said in April that her office was investigating the allegations. Months later, the grand jury returned the sealed indictments. There is another part of the story that will likely remain relevant.

The athletes’ lawsuit says NC State officials knew about concerns surrounding Murphy before the allegations became public in 2022. Their lawyers argued in April that the school allowed the conduct to continue.

Attorneys for NC State officials dispute that and point to actions taken by administrators, including restrictions placed on Murphy’s work with male athletes and changes to urine testing. Those claims are still contested.