FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – Rebecca Murphy thought her life was in the hands of someone she could trust.
That turned out to be far from the truth.
In October 2021, Murphy was unconscious in the back of Flagler County ambulance when a paramedic transporting her, raped her.
If the man convicted of sexual battery against her hadn’t also filmed the incident, Murphy told FOX 35’s Alexus Cleavenger it’s possible he would have never been caught.
“He has no idea that he has ruined my life,” Murphy said.
What we know:
James Melady, 39, a former paramedic with Flagler County Fire Rescue, was accused of sexually assaulting an unconscious patient in an ambulance he was transporting to a local hospital in October 2021.
During an investigation by the Daytona Beach Police Department, detectives found two video clips on a cell phone that allegedly showed Melady assaulting the unconscious woman inside an ambulance, authorities said.
Melady claimed he was merely doing a thorough exam when he filmed himself touching an unconscious patient’s genitals in the back of an ambulance in 2021.
During this incident, Murphy wasn’t aware of what was happening to her.
“I didn’t even know I was in the ambulance. I had no idea. I was unconscious the whole entire time,” she told Cleavenger.
Rebecca Murphy sits with FOX 35’s Alexus Cleavenger.
In December 2025, a Flagler County jury found Melady guilty of sexual battery by a person 18 years or older. Melady was found not guilty of the second count against him: video voyeurism.
Melady was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of probation after his release. He’s also required to register as a sex offender.
Following Melady’s sentencing, State Attorney R.J. Larizza issued a statement saying, “The defendant was a first responder who raped an unconscious patient when he was supposed to be providing her with proper medical care. His crime was disgusting, demented, and deserving of the maximum sentence permissible by law.”
Changing the law: New protocols
Flagler County Fire Rescue changed its protocols after Melady’s arrest last year, adding cameras in the back of all ambulances, and mandating two personnel have to ride in the back together when transporting patients considered vulnerable or underage.
What’s next:
For herself, Murphy said she’s never going into an ambulance again.
Now, Murphy is trying to change state law to instill more protections for people being transported in ambulances by:
Requiring two paramedics in the back of an ambulance during transportationCameras filming the transportationParamedics to undergo psychological evaluation
The Source: Information in this story was gathered reporting from FOX 35’s Alexus Cleavenger.