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littlemissmartypants

(24,981 posts)
Sun Apr 30, 2023, 06:48 AM Apr 2023

Third ex-athlete sues NC State saying officials ignored sexual abuse by trainer

Third ex-athlete sues NC State saying officials ignored sexual abuse by trainer BY VIRGINIA BRIDGES UPDATED APRIL 22, 2023 7:36 AM

Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article274576196.html#storylink=cpy

Another former N.C. State student athlete filed a federal lawsuit Friday accusing the university of not protecting students from sexual abuse from the longtime director of sports medicine, marking the third person to come forward since August.

The lawsuits contend university officials created a hostile educational environment and enabled sexual abuse by Robert M. Murphy, N.C. State’s director of sports medicine from 2012 to 2022.

The lawsuits allege that N.C. State failed to take action after a former soccer coach reported in early 2016 concerns that Murphy was grooming students for sexual contact. The third lawsuit states that that coach and two other coaches were aware of Murphy’s sexual conduct with student athletes prior to 2016, but didn’t report it as required.

The three lawsuits contend that Murphy, who has never been criminally charged, used his position as a trainer to abuse injured male college athletes by watching them undress and touching and commenting on their genitals during treatments that often included sports massages in the hip and genital areas.
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Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article274576196.html#storylink=cpy


If you or a loved one has ever been touched inappropriately or harassed by Robert Murphy while a student at NCSU, we may be able to help. The information you provide is confidential.

https://ncstate-survivorassistance.com


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Third ex-athlete sues NC State saying officials ignored sexual abuse by trainer (Original Post) littlemissmartypants Apr 2023 OP
I am on the side of the victims but I have to ask... CurtEastPoint Apr 2023 #1
Not knowing the circumstances it's impossible for me to say, but thucythucy Apr 2023 #2
very thoughtful response. thank you. CurtEastPoint Apr 2023 #3
Jim Jordan should call Congressional Hearings to determine how this abuse was allowed to continue. Midnight Writer Apr 2023 #4

CurtEastPoint

(19,120 posts)
1. I am on the side of the victims but I have to ask...
Sun Apr 30, 2023, 08:07 AM
Apr 2023

How could a 19-20ish year old man be subjected to abuse over 100 times? Please help me understand why he didn't walk away? I hope he reported it the very first time it happened.

thucythucy

(8,732 posts)
2. Not knowing the circumstances it's impossible for me to say, but
Sun Apr 30, 2023, 11:02 AM
Apr 2023

there are many possible answers.

Predators are often very good at selecting their victims, choosing young people who are vulnerable for a variety of reasons. They may come from a dysfunctional family. They may be economically or otherwise at risk. There may have been drugs or alcohol involved, in which case the victim feels unable to come forward for fear they themselves will be punished for breaking the rules. And after the abuse happens once, the perpetrator will often threaten to claim the sex was consensual, with all that might mean to the victim.

Plus, there may be concerns about what family and friends will think and say. How will this affect their being on campus, or in the program? And if the coach is popular with other athletes, what kind of retaliation might the victim suffer from those who haven't been abused? And if the administration doesn't seem to care--which is alleged to be the case here--what would coming forward accomplish anyway, aside from ruining the victim's academic career?

Nineteen and twenty years old isn't that old, really. Could be this was the first time the victim had ever been away from home and in "the real world." At that age I was still finding my way through life, naive, and far more vulnerable than I might be today.

Then too, the perpetrator might actually have threatened the victim, or his family. "Tell anyone and I'll kill you" or "tell anyone and I'll ruin you forever," will work with lots of people, especially if the perpetrator is a person in authority, or popular, or both.

And as I say, once the pattern is established, it becomes more and more difficult for the victim to extradite themselves from the abuse.

Similarly, people often ask: why do battered spouses stay, despite repeated abuse over years? The dynamic is often similar.

Each situation is unique, but there are patterns we can discern, and some of those may well have been at work here.

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