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A Wake County judge ordered Friday that the former N.C. State University director of sports medicine accused of sexually abusing over a dozen former athletes remain in custody on $2 million bail.
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Robert Murphy Jr., 54, appeared virtually from the monitor in a third-floor courtroom at the Wake County Justice Center. He faces 32 charges related to 14 former athletes: nine felony charges of sexual contact or penetration under the pretext of medical treatment and 23 misdemeanor charges of sexual battery, The News & Observer previously reported.
A Wake County grand jury indicted Murphy, who now lives in Ocala, Florida, in September. The N&O previously reported that Murphy agreed to be transferred to Wake County without objection, according to Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman. A magistrate ordered Murphy be held on $2 million bail.
At his first appearance Friday, Assistant District Attorney Melanie Shekita asked to keep bail where it was and for Murphy to surrender his passport if he posts bail. Shekita requested the latter, she said, because Murphy left the country when allegations of sexual abuse first came to light.
Seth Blum, one of Murphy’s defense attorneys, asked the judge not to be heard on the issue of bail and did not object to the passport surrender — only noting that Murphy agreed to extradition and was living in Florida to care for his mother. The judge kept Murphy’s bail at $2 million.
Murphy has denied all allegations of wrongdoing, The N&O reported. His attorneys have said they were “very disappointed” the district attorney pursued charges “based on a changing story.”
The criminal charges against Murphy marked a shift in a legal battle that began in June 2022, when Murphy quit after an internal investigation into allegations against him from a former athlete. Two months later, former N.C. State soccer player Benjamin Locke sued Murphy and N.C. State officials in federal court. Eventually, 31 other male former athletes joined the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was moved to Wake County Superior Court, and a judge dismissed it in June 2025, citing a three-year statute of limitations and that negligence claims against state agencies must be heard by the Industrial Commission.
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The athletes then filed a lawsuit with the Industrial Commission against N.C. State. That case is on hold while the Superior Court case moves through the appeal process.
In September 2025, Freeman announced her office was investigating the allegations against Murphy, The N&O reported.
Attorney Kerry Sutton, who represents Murphy’s accusers in the civil cases, has talked about criminal charges with the District Attorney’s Office since the first lawsuit in 2022, she said. She’s worked on the case almost every day, sending frequent updates about changes in the course of the case, she said.
The September indictment against Murphy was a “great deal of relief” for the men, but those who have been plaintiffs the longest are “mystified” by how the legal process works, “weighed down” and “exhausted,” Sutton said.
While 36 men have come forward with allegations in civil lawsuits, the criminal charges relate to the allegations of just 14 John Does, Sutton said after Murphy’s first appearance. The other men did not want or were afraid to press charges, or their allegations did not rise to the level of a crime, she said.
“I know there are other victims out there, and I hope they reach out to someone,” Sutton said. “Many of the men, although the assaults were years in the past, they’re still really distressed, and they think about it all the time, and it weighs on them.”
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This story was originally published October 9, 2026 at 3:30 PM.