Former NC State sports medicine director Robert Michael Murphy was arrested in Ocala, Florida, following a grand jury indictment on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges involving the sexual abuse of male student-athletes. Murphy, who resigned in spring 2022, is charged under a 2019 North Carolina law that made abuse under the guise of medical treatment a felony. The indictment includes at least two felony counts for sexual penetration or contact and four counts of sexual battery.

Allegations first surfaced in 2022 after former men's soccer player Ben Locke filed a criminal complaint. A Title IX investigation later found Murphy's conduct during treatment was "unwelcome and of a sexual nature," "pervasive," and "sufficiently severe." Thirty-three other former athletes have joined a civil lawsuit against Murphy and university officials, alleging abuse under the guise of medical treatment or overly intrusive drug tests. The lawsuit was dismissed in June on procedural grounds, but the plaintiffs have appealed.

Murphy's attorney, Jared Hammett, previously described his client as someone who "dedicated his life to working with athletes" and called the situation a "rush to judgment." Kerry Sutton, a lawyer for the former athletes, stated the criminal charges "validate Ben Locke and 33 other former Wolfpack athletes."