Red Sox suspend clubhouse attendant guilty for 26 counts of sexual assault

The Boston Red Sox have suspended a clubhouse worker after he was accused of sexual assault prior to his appointment at the Red Sox. Stephen Murphy, a resident of Danvers, Massachusetts, was indicted with 26 counts of aggravated felonious assault in July 2019. Murphy and Jeffrey Buskey of Boston have been accused of sexually attacking and beating the boy as youth counsellors at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester.

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MLB: Red Sox clubhouse attendant suspended over sexual abuse allegations

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Boston Red Sox spokesperson Kevin Gregg in a statement said that when the organisation learnt of allegations against Murphy, he was suspended without pay from his role. He added that the Major League Baseball (MLB) team wouldn’t comment on the issue going forward.

This is not the first instance of the Red Sox's clubhouse being linked to a case of sexual abuse. Donald J. Fitzpatrick, a retired Red Sox clubhouse manager, pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual abuse on boys younger than 12 in 2002. Fitzpatrick’s accusers had sued the Boston Red Sox, seeking a $100 million compensation for the same. The team settled the matter out of court with seven other victims in 2003. Fitzpatrick expired in 2005 at the age of 76 while serving a 10-year suspended sentence in the Florida case.

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MLB: Red Sox clubhouse attendant charged with sexual assault

In a 2010 interview, Stephen Murphy said he was employed as a special education teacher in Stoneham, Massachusetts, while also working as an assistant basketball coach at Woburn High School when he took the job with the Boston Red Sox. Clubhouse employees are responsible for everything, from fetching takeout food for players to stuffing their bats and other gear for road trips.

The suspected assaults in New Hampshire in the Youth Development Center occurred between late October 1997 and late September 1998 while the victim was enslaved, though several of the charges against Buskey claim assaults ensued at a private home. The allegations provoked a broad investigation into the centre by the New Hampshire attorney general's office, which helps children aged 13 to 17, who have been ordered to a secure institutional setting by the juvenile justice system.

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