NEW YORK — The sexual abuse scandal at Michigan State University (MSU) widened significantly Tuesday. MSU is where former sports doctor Larry Nassar worked. He’s now serving a long prison term for abusing young women. On Tuesday, the university’s dean of osteopathic medicine was also arrested.
William Strampel, the very person responsible for supervising Nassar, is accused of inappropriate sexual behavior himself. According to a complaint, Nassar’s ex-boss “used his office to harass, discriminate, demean, sexually proposition and sexually assault female students.”
Specific complaints include groping, propositioning students and possessing nude and semi-nude photos of women, many appearing to be “selfies” of MSU students.
Pornographic videos were found on Strampel’s work computer. Strampel is also accused of neglecting his duty in supervising Nassar, who is now in jail for sexually abusing more than 250 young women.
“I couldn’t have imagined that he was also a predator himself, but I knew he was definitely an enabler,” Amanda Thomashow, a former MSU student, said.
In January, Thomashow testified against Nassar during his sentencing hearing. In 2014, she filed a complaint against Nassar for sexual abuse, but an investigation cleared him.
“I personally was not only victimized by that man, I was re-victimized by MSU when they had the audacity to tell me I didn’t understand sexual assault,” Thomashow said.
Strampel then established guidelines for Nassar to follow during exams, but the complaint states: “Strampel did not actually enforce or monitor these protocols.”
“I think this just shows this was a systematic problem, an institutional problem, not just one bad guy,” Thomashow said.
Nassar sexually abused at least 12 more women after Thomashow lodged her complaint. Through his attorney on Tuesday, Strampel denied sexual misconduct and neglect of duty. The charges against him carry a maximum of nine years in prison.
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