New sexual battery charges filed against Pierson volleyball coach, deputies say

Second victim comes forward after hearing first victim's story

Keyunta Murphy, 23.

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – New sexual battery charges were filed Thursday against a former Pierson volleyball coach who was arrested in April and charged with performing a sex act on a 14-year-old boy in a gym bathroom.

A new victim came forward after Keyunta Murphy, 23, a coach and academic adviser at T. Dewitt Taylor Middle-High School, was arrested on April 18.

The 16-year-old student said Murphy contacted him on April 14 via the social media app SnapChat and asked him to meet in a school office. When they met Murphy told the victim to perform oral sex, deputies said. Murphy then took the victim to a school restroom where he sexually battered the 16-year-old, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The victim told deputies that Murphy did not pay him, but he offered him food and he felt pressured into the sexual acts.

The first incident for which Murphy was originally arrested was reported on April 18 after the victim’s mother contacted the school resource deputy at Taylor Middle-High. The mother said her son told her that a school staff member sexually abused him.

The boy said Murphy contacted him during class and told him to come to the office with him, according to deputies. The boy agreed, but instead of going to the office, the two went to a gym bathroom on the middle school side of campus, where the boy claimed that Murphy performed a sex act on him, the Sheriff's Office said.

Murphy voluntarily resigned for personal reasons, according to Volusia County Public Schools.

Murphy was denied bond on the first charges and remains in the Volusia County Branch Jail, where he was served a warrant Thursday on two new charges of sexual battery.

Deputies said the investigation is continuing.

The Sheriff’s Office is asking parents and guardians to talk with their children and report any information about additional incidents to police. Detectives can be reached at 386-323-3574, or through Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida at 888-277-TIPS.


Recommended Videos