Man may have molested 9 boys

MORGANTON, N.C. -- A former Eastern Burke County Rescue Squad volunteer could face 100 charges in connection to the sex abuse investigation against him. Two of his alleged victims were boys in elementary school.

Richard Murphy, 58, stood before a judge Monday morning for his first court appearance. The judge assigned Murphy a public defender.

“Very apologetic to all victims involved,” Murphy said Friday while investigators escorted him into the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.

Murphy, who had changed his name to Trevor Fury, moved to Kill Devil Hills four years ago after learning he was under investigation.

“During my career in talking to sex offenders, normally they want to get it off their chest when they’re caught,” said Lt. Becky Brendle with the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators said Murphy told them during an interrogation about two new victims they didn’t know about.

“Fox in the henhouse sort of speak,” Brendle added.

Between February and May 1993, Murphy worked as a substitute teacher at Oak Hill Elementary and Salem Elementary of the Burke County Schools system.

“Nothing happened at the school(s) according Richard,” said Brendle. “He followed them or took them to their residence and the events happened at their houses.”

Of the now nine known possible victims, the majority stem from Murphy’s time with the Eastern Burke County Rescue Squad. Between 2003 and 2004, he recruited teenage boys for a volunteer program.

“He used his position to lure young men into having sex with them,” said Brendle.

Investigators searched Murphy’s room in Kill Devil Hills before bringing him back to Burke County.

“I’ll just say we were able to corroborate what our victims told us during our investigation that would be in his room,” Brendle added.

Ultimately, a grand jury will decide how many charges Murphy will face. According to investigators, it could be as many as 100 charges because of multiple encounters with the same boys.