Ohio State Finds Team Doctor Sexually Abused 177 Students

In a massive 182-page report published on Friday, The Ohio State said Richard H. Strauss, the physician who committed suicide in 2005, had groped students, unnecessarily required them to strip naked, and asked intimate sexual questions during the course of his work.

Free Confidential Lawsuit Evaluation: If you or a loved one has been the victim of any form of sexual abuse, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a suit and our lawyers can help.

What’s the problem?

Ohio State said that Strauss’s behavior was common knowledge among campus personnel going all the way back to the late 1970s, but that nobody reported it to authorities until 1996, according to the New York Times.

After news of his activities broke to a larger audience, Strauss was suspended and removed from his post, but remained employed with the university as a tenured faculty member. He later opened an off-campus clinic and continued to abuse students, the Times reports. He remained a professor emeritus up until the time of his death in 2005, when he committed suicide.

The report said: “From roughly 1979 to 1996, male students complained that Strauss routinely performed excessive — and seemingly medically unnecessary — genital exams, regardless of the medical condition the student-patients presented.”

Student athletes reported coming to Strauss for a range of medical issues, including one who made an appointment for a sore throat, only to have the doctor fondling his genitals. When the student responded “with anger and some physicality,” Strauss accused the student of assaulting him.

In a statement, Michael V. Drake, the Ohio State president, said: “The findings are shocking and painful to comprehend.

“On behalf of the university, we offer our profound regret and sincere apologies to each person who endured Strauss’s abuse. Our institution’s fundamental failure at the time to prevent this abuse was unacceptable — as were the inadequate efforts to thoroughly investigate complaints raised by students and staff members.”

Do I Have a Sexual Abuse Lawsuit?

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Free Case Evaluation: Again, if you were the victim of any form of sexual abuse, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to a settlement by filing a suit and we can help.