
A former North Carolina State soccer player sued the school in federal court Tuesday, saying he was sexually abused for years by the Wolfpackās former director of sports medicine under the guise of treatment.
As reported by The Associated Press, the lawsuit filed by Benjamin Locke accuses Robert Murphy Jr. of improperly touching his genitals during roughly 75 to 100 massages that he said he later believed lacked ālegitimateā medical necessity between August 2015 and May 2017.
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A former North Carolina State soccer player sued the school in federal court Tuesday, saying he was sexually abused for years by the Wolfpackās former director of sports medicine under the guise of treatment.
As reported by The Associated Press, the lawsuit filed by Benjamin Locke accuses Robert Murphy Jr. of improperly touching his genitals during roughly 75 to 100 massages that he said he later believed lacked ālegitimateā medical necessity between August 2015 and May 2017.
The lawsuit also alleges another male athlete told the schoolāsĀ Title IX office of his own claim during its investigation, which began earlier this year after Locke came forward and contacted university police. That athlete was not identified.
During the Title IX investigation, the lawsuit states, Locke learned former head coach Kelly Findley allegedly told a senior athletics official in February 2016 that Murphy was āengaging in contact with male student-athletes that he believed was consistent with āgroomingā behavior.ā
Murphy, who arrived at N.C. State in 2012, was shifted to more administrative duties in 2017 before being promoted in 2018 to associate athletics director, according to The Associated Press report. The school said Tuesday that Murphy was placed on administrative leave this past January amid the Title IX investigation. The complaint stated Locke learned in June that Murphy no longer worked at N.C. State due to an āinvoluntary separation,ā though the reasons have not been disclosed.
The Title IX investigation ultimately found āa violation would have been substantiated via the preponderance of the evidence standardā if Murphy remained at N.C. State, according to a letter to Locke from the schoolās Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity. According to the lawsuit, Murphy admitted to school investigators that he touched Lockeās genitals with his bare hands but later declined additional interviews.
Attorney Seth Blum, who worked with Murphy during the Title IX investigation, said Murphy performed āappropriate medical procedures that may have included some pro forma touching, but nothing that was ever of a sexual nature.ā
āMr. Murphy has always denied these allegations,ā Blum told the The Associated Press. āHe denied them as part of the Title IX investigation and he denies them as it comes to this federal lawsuit.ā
He arrived on campus in January 2015 at 17 years old and never played for the Wolfpack due to injuries before transferring to Lipscomb, where he played from 2017 to 2019 before graduating.
āI feel a lot of burden, I feel a lot of responsibility,ā he told AP sports writer Aaron Beard. āAs this happened five, six, seven years ago, I am still today realizing the effects that it has on different parts of my life. ⦠There are moments where Iām like, āOh, this is still impacting me and my relationship with my wifeā or the intimacy I have with her. Or the relationships I have with other people or my self-image and the perception I have of myself.ā
Locke was seeking treatment for a lingering groin injury at the time of the alleged abuse. He said working with Lipscombās trainers led to a ācomplete wake-up callā that Murphyās tactics felt improper. He said he faced depression and anxiety before seeking counseling in 2021.
The complaint names chancellor Randy Woodson, retired athletics director Debbie Yow and former senior associate athletics director Sherard Clinkscales as defendants in oversight roles, according to The Associated Press report. Specifically, it states Findley ā now head coach at Liberty ā informed Clinkscales of concern about Murphyās conduct before Clinkscales left that year to become Indiana State athletics director.
āI have always and will continue to be a protector and advocate for all student-athletes well being,ā Clinkscales wrote in a text message to The News and Observer of Raleigh. Yow declined comment in a text message to The Associated Press.
In a statement, N.C. State said campus police conducted an investigation earlier this year and have filed no criminal charges. The school said Lockeās decision to come forward in January āwas the first the university had been informed of the accusationsā from him or any other athletes.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified financial damages, as well as asking the school to āidentify and notifyā any other potential victims from January 2012 to January 2022.