RALEIGH, N.C. — A Raleigh Wake County judge on Friday kept a $2 million bond on former NC State sports medicine director Robert Murphy after his first local court appearance on 32 sex-crime charges tied to allegations from former Wolfpack male athletes.
District Court Judge Brian Ratledge set the next hearing for Nov. 2. Jail records late Friday still showed Murphy had not posted bond after being extradited from Florida on Thursday and briefly appearing before a magistrate.
Murphy worked at NC State from 2012 to 2022. He was arrested Sept. 23 at a Florida home after an indictment that listed nine felony counts of sexual contact under the pretext of medical treatment and 23 misdemeanor counts of sexual battery. Prosecutors say the indictment covers allegations from 14 former athletes spanning October 2016 to September 2021. His lawyers have denied the charges.
Friday appearance lasted less than four minutes, according to local reporting from the Wake County courtroom. Attorney Kerry Sutton, who represents dozens of former athletes in related civil claims, attended the hearing and said clients remain distressed years after the alleged abuse.
Civil suits naming Murphy and university officials have already moved through the courts. One lawsuit filed by more than 30 former athletes was dismissed in June on procedural grounds and is on appeal. A separate university-related filing is pending before the North Carolina Industrial Commission. Murphy resigned in June 2022 after a suspension that began that January.
Wake County Justice Center proceedings put the criminal case under District Attorney Lorrin Freeman office review as NC State and the UNC System say they are cooperating with investigators while declining detailed comment on an open matter. Gov. Josh Stein administration oversees statewide higher-education policy as the capital-city case continues.
