The mother of a Cape Coral High School football player claims she had an intimate relationship with former coach and gym teacher Tyler Murphy — some of which, she alleges, happened on school grounds.
Last week, WINK Investigates obtained email records from the Lee County School District which show .
His sudden departure left many shocked and disappointed.
“One of the players said, ‘I feel like my dad just died,'” the mother, who requested her identity be concealed to protect her son, who is a minor, said. “Like, that’s how close they all were with Coach Murphy.”
Since then, questions circulated online over Murphy’s dismissal and parents started a petition to bring Murphy back as head football coach, collecting over 1,000 signatures.
In an exclusive interview, the parent tells WINK Investigates she thinks the reason Murphy resigned has to do with what she alleges occurred off the field.
“At the end of the day, if I would have made different decisions and just stayed away from him, my son’s senior year would be playing out differently,” the parent said.
Parent shares text messages she says prove sexual acts with Tyler Murphy on school grounds
The parent sent hundreds of pages of text messages to WINK Investigates and the school district she says prove she had sex with Murphy in his office last year.
Lee County School District’s Director of Strategic Communication Rob Spicker said the district’s review verified the woman’s claim that she and Murphy had sex on the school’s campus.
WINK Investigates has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the messages, but Spicker tells us Murphy confirmed to district staff the messages were authentic.
The parent claims the texts show Murphy coached her on how to avoid suspicion on school security cameras.
The mother, who runs a cleaning business, alleges Murphy told her to bring a clipboard so it looked like she was giving him a quote to deep-clean the locker room.
“He told me to bring that so it wouldn’t look suspicious and there would be a cover story,” the mother said.
The parent claims it only happened at the school once, but said their relationship continued off-campus for months.
She says her son received special treatment from the former coach.
“There’s a text message where Murphy said, ‘I gave your son a free pair of shorts today because of you,'” the parent said. “‘I shouldn’t have done that, but I did it because of you.'”
The mother also alleges text messages show Murphy sent her screenshots of private conversations he had with other parents and players.
“Which is a potential violation of parental rights,” she said.
The parent says text messages show Murphy also allegedly admitted the relationship broke some rules.
She says she decided to come forward when, she claims, her son was allegedly benched by Murphy in retaliation for ending the relationship.
Spicker said in a phone call the school district’s review could not verify allegations of retaliation.
WINK Investigates called and texted Murphy three times to request an interview, but received no response.
We also sent Facebook messages to the former coach, but did not hear back from him.
WINK Investigates requested an interview with Lee County School District’s Superintendent Dr. Denise Carlin and Cape Coral High School’s principal, but Spicker declined on behalf of the district in an email.
Instead, he sent us the following statement:
“The School District of Lee County takes all allegations of ethics violations or impacts to the health, safety, and welfare of our students seriously. Each claim is thoroughly reviewed, and disciplinary action is taken when warranted. In this case, as with all others, we followed established policies and procedures. Within 24 hours of receiving the evidence, we completed our review and took appropriate action. Our findings have been reported to the Florida Department of Education.”
Former coach resigns two weeks after allegation of sex on school grounds
The parent says she filed a complaint with the Florida High School Athletic Association, the Florida Department of Education and the Lee County School District.
Email records show Murphy submitted his resignation two weeks after the parent claims to have sent her complaint to the school district.
Records show Murphy asked to withdraw his resignation that same day, but Assistant Director of Professional Standards Michael Harris told him in an email “the matter was concluded.”
The parent tells WINK Investigates her son is back on the field, but says it doesn’t erase what happened.
“I just want integrity restored to the program, and accountability,” she said.
Spicker says Murphy was on a probationary status when he resigned.
He said Murphy was given the option to resign or the district would exercise its right to terminate him.
Now, .
Spicker tells us the school board will vote Tuesday on whether to approve Murphy’s resignation, as it does with all hires and separations.
WINK News will be at the school board meeting and will update you as we learn more.