2026年9月25日 / 美国东部时间早上6:41 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
北卡罗来纳州立大学前运动医学主任面临重罪和轻罪刑事指控，他被指控假借治疗名义性侵前狼群队男运动员，此前已有超过30名运动员在多年的民事诉讼中详细陈述了相关指控。
佛罗里达州当局于周三晚间逮捕了小罗伯特·M·墨菲，他于周四被关押在马里恩县监狱，面临北卡罗来纳州发出的跨州逃犯逮捕令。此前，韦克县大陪审团于9月14日起诉墨菲，指控其9项以医疗为借口进行性接触的重罪，以及23项性侵轻罪。
韦克县地方检察官洛林·弗里曼周四在给美联社的一份确认起诉声明中表示，这些指控与14名受害者有关，执法人员在一项为期多年的调查中对这些受害者进行了约谈。
“这是为这些受害者寻求正义的长期进程中的重要一步，”弗里曼说。“我们赞扬执法部门的辛勤工作，以及受害者们的勇气，是他们让我们走到了这一步。”
马里恩县警长办公室列出了这32项指控，但在其在线数据库中未公布逮捕后的更多细节，这一逮捕消息最早由ESPN报道。根据警长办公室的信息，指控包括性侵和重罪性接触。
指控已从民事法庭转入刑事法庭
这起案件始于四年前一名运动员提起的联邦民事诉讼。该投诉指控墨菲多年来存在不当行为，例如在按摩时不当触碰生殖器，以及在尿检时进行侵入性观察。
该案最终于2025年进入州法院，共有14名前狼群队运动员参与，到1月底时，这一人数已增至31人。一名法官于6月以程序原因为由驳回了该诉讼，球员的律师已提起上诉。
根据周四下午公开的起诉书，这32项指控涉及14名受害者，时间跨度从2016年10月到2021年秋季。墨菲面临最多六项指控，其中两项重罪与一名指控者有关，另有四项指控（含两项重罪）涉及另一名受害者。
小罗伯特·M·墨菲 马里恩县警长办公室 供图
据CBS体育报道， alleged受害者声称，前体育主管黛比·约及其他学校官员知晓对墨菲行为的担忧，但校方既未调查他的行为，也未阻止他与男运动员接触。根据诉讼文件，全校运动员都知晓墨菲的行为，部分人拒绝接受他的治疗。
曾在民事诉讼中代理墨菲的罗利律师贾里德·哈米特和赛斯·布卢姆否认其当事人存在不当行为。他们周四在给美联社的一份回应刑事指控的声明中再次重申了这一点，并提及北卡罗来纳州立大学2022年的声明，称该校警方当年已开展调查，未提起刑事指控。
“我们对韦克县地方检察官办公室选择基于不断变化的说法提起诉讼感到非常失望，”哈米特和布卢姆说。“四年前，执法部门认定没有足够证据支持指控。显然，经过足够多的‘精心编辑’，有人编造出了能引起检察官注意的说法。
“我们一如既往地相信，当人们了解事件的真实情况后，墨菲先生将被洗清罪名，真相才是最重要的。”
曾代理最初案件的达勒姆律师克里·萨顿告诉美联社，联系球员律师并提出类似指控的运动员人数已增至35人。
“这对这些男性来说是重大进展，”萨顿在谈及刑事指控的声明中说。“他们非常感激（韦克县）助理地方检察官梅兰妮·谢基塔的敬业精神，以及北卡罗来纳州和佛罗里达州执法部门的协助。”
民事诉讼在法院系统中历经曲折
在这31名运动员中，除两人外，其余均以“约翰·多伊”作为原告身份以保护其隐私，两名前男子足球运动员则公开了身份。
其中一人是本杰明·洛克，他于2022年8月提起最初的诉讼，其指控可追溯至2015年8月，也是北卡罗来纳州立大学校警方最初调查的对象。美联社通常不会公开声称遭受性侵犯或虐待的人的身份，除非该人已公开谈论此事，而洛克已公开此事。
洛克的诉讼称，前男子足球主教练凯利·芬德利据称在2016年告诉体育部一名高级官员，墨菲的行为“符合‘ grooming（拉拢腐蚀）’行为”，据CBS体育报道。根据最新的诉讼文件，芬德利在四年前就提出了担忧，并要求将墨菲从球队训练师的岗位上撤下。墨菲于2013年被调岗，但在2014年恢复了与足球队的合作。
另一人是两名分别于2023年2月和4月提起联邦诉讼的运动员之一。其中一起案件被地区法院驳回，后于2025年1月由联邦上诉法院恢复审理。
以31名运动员为原告的州法院诉讼将2012年至2022年期间在北卡罗来纳州立大学任职的墨菲列为九名单独被告之一。其他被告包括被指控在监管工作中存在疏忽的学校官员，其中包括约和现任体育主管布·科里根。
法官在6月驳回该诉讼时给出的理由包括，最早可追溯至2013年的指控已超过诉讼时效。法院还援引了管辖权理由，称任何申诉都应通过北卡罗来纳州工业委员会——一个处理工作场所事务的州机构，因为北卡罗来纳州立大学是公立大学——而非民事法院处理。
北卡罗来纳州立大学在一份声明中表示，已获悉针对墨菲的刑事指控。
“任何形式的性不当行为都是不可接受的，”校方表示。“学生和运动员的健康与安全对北卡罗来纳州立大学体育部门和学校而言至关重要。我们知晓韦克县对罗伯特·墨菲提出的指控。我们将在此事中配合执法部门。由于这是正在进行的法律程序，我们目前无法进一步置评。”
Ex-N.C. State sports trainer accused of sexually abusing male athletes is arrested in Florida
September 25, 2026 / 6:41 AM EDT / CBS/AP
N.C. State’s former director of sports medicine faces felony and misdemeanor criminal charges after being accused of sexually abusing former Wolfpack male athletes under the guise of treatment, which previously led to more than 30 athletes outlining allegations in years of civil lawsuits.
Authorities in Florida arrested Robert M. Murphy Jr. on Wednesday night, and he was being held Thursday in the Marion County jail on out-of-state fugitive warrants from North Carolina. That came after a Wake County grand jury indicted Murphy on Sept. 14 on nine felony counts of sexual contact under pretext of medical treatment and 23 counts of sexual battery, a misdemeanor.
In a statement Thursday to The Associated Press confirming the indictment, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said the charges were linked to 14 victims who were interviewed by law enforcement officers amid a multiyear investigation.
“This is a big step in a longer process committed to seeking justice on behalf of these victims,” Freeman said. “We commend the hard work of law enforcement and the courage of the victims who have brought us to this point.”
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office listed the 32 charges, but no additional details on its online database after his arrest, which was first reported by ESPN. According to the sheriff’s office, the charges include sexual battery and felony sexual contact.
Allegations have moved from civil to criminal court
The case originated with a federal civil lawsuit from a single athlete filed four years ago. That complaint alleged years of misconduct by Murphy, such as improper touching of the genitals during massages and intrusive observation while collecting urine samples during drug testing.
The case eventually landed in state court in 2025 with 14 former Wolfpack athletes, with that number growing to 31 joining the lawsuit by late January. A judge dismissed the lawsuit in June, citing procedural reasons, while attorneys for the players have appealed.
According to the indictments unsealed Thursday afternoon, the 32 charges scattered among 14 victims covered allegations ranging from October 2016 to fall 2021. Murphy faces as many as six charges with two felony counts related to a single accuser, as well as a total of four charges and two felonies with another.
Robert M. Murphy Jr. Marion County Sheriff’s Office
The alleged victims claim that former athletic director Debbie Yow and other school officials were aware of concerns over Murphy’s conduct but that the university did not investigate his behavior nor prevent him from working with male athletes, CBS Sports reported. According to the lawsuit, athletes throughout the university knew of Murphy’s actions and some refused treatment from him.
Jared Hammett and Seth Blum, Raleigh-based attorneys who have represented Murphy in the civil suits, have denied wrongdoing by their client. They did so again Thursday in a statement to the AP in response to the criminal charges that referenced N.C. State’s 2022 statement that campus police had conducted an investigation that year and filed no criminal charges.
“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. “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.”
Durham-based attorney Kerry Sutton, who has represented players going back to the original case, told the AP that the number of athletes who have contacted players’ attorneys with similar allegations has grown to 35.
“This is a huge development for the men,” Sutton said in a statement about the criminal charges. “They are extremely grateful for (Wake) ADA Melanie Shekita’s dedication and for the assistance of law enforcement in North Carolina and Florida.”
Civil lawsuits take winding paths through court system
All but two of those 31 athletes were “John Doe” plaintiffs to protect their identity, while two former men’s soccer players were named.
One is Benjamin Locke, who filed the original complaint in August 2022 and whose allegations dating to August 2015 were the subject of the N.C. State campus police’s initial investigation. The AP typically doesn’t identify those who say they have been sexually assaulted or abused unless the person has spoken publicly about it, which Locke has done.
Locke’s lawsuit said that former men’s soccer coach Kelly Findley allegedly told a senior official in the athletic department in 2016 that Murphy was engaging in conduct “consistent with ‘grooming’ behavior,” CBS Sports reported. According to the latest lawsuit, Findley raised concerns four years prior and requested that Murphy be removed from his role as the team’s trainer. Murphy was reassigned in 2013 but resumed working with the soccer team in 2014.
The other is one of two athletes who filed their own federal lawsuits in February 2023 and April 2023. One of those cases were dismissed by a district court before being revived in January 2025 by a federal appeals court.
The lawsuit in state court with 31 athletes as plaintiffs listed Murphy, who was at N.C. State from 2012-22, among nine defendants named individually. Others are school officials accused of negligence in oversight roles, including Yow and current AD Boo Corrigan.
The judge’s June dismissal of the lawsuit cited reasons such as the statute of limitations expiring in claims dating back as early as 2013. It had also cited jurisdictional grounds, stating any complaint should go through the North Carolina Industrial Commission – a state agency that deals with workplace matters because N.C. State is a public university – rather than civil court.
In a statement, N.C. State said it was aware of the criminal charges filed against Murphy.
“Sexual misconduct of any kind is unacceptable,” the university said. “The health and safety of students and student-athletes is paramount to N.C. 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. As this is an ongoing legal matter, we cannot comment further at this time.”
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