COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State University has now tallied over 2,800 instances of alleged, decades-old sexual misconduct by the late team doctor Richard Strauss, according to its latest campus crime data released Friday.
The school says more than 170 total instances of rape and more than 2,600 instances of fondling attributed to Strauss came to light between 2018 and 2020, much of that through a law firm investigation for the university and lawsuits filed against OSU.
FILE – This undated file photo shows a photo of Dr. Richard Strauss, an Ohio State University team doctor employed by the school from 1978 until his 1998 retirement. A court reviewer says Ohio State University violated state public records law by intentionally withholding old documents from one of the men alleging decades-old sexual misconduct by Strauss. (Ohio State University via AP, File)
The crime statistics are disclosed under the federal Clery Act, and incidents are counted in the year they’re reported, not the year they occurred. The 2020 data in the report adds dozens of instances of rape and about 470 instances of fondling attributed to Strauss.
Hundreds of men allege he abused them at campus athletic facilities, a student health center, his home and or an off-campus clinic, and some of those men reported multiple instances. They say the school failed to stop Strauss despite students raising concerns during his 20 years at the university.
FILE – This May 8, 2019, file photo, shows a sign for Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. On Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, a federal judge dismissed some of the biggest remaining lawsuits over Ohio State’s failure to stop decades-old sexual abuse by now-deceased team doctor Richard Strauss, saying it’s indisputable he abused hundreds of young men but agreeing with OSU’s argument that the legal window for such claims had passed. (AP Photo/Angie Wang, File)
Ohio State has apologized, and it announced settlements with 185 plaintiffs totaling nearly $47 million and with dozens more people for amounts not yet disclosed.
A judge recently dismissed some of the biggest unsettled lawsuits, citing legal time limits. Plaintiffs in those plan to appeal. Still other cases involving dozens more men are pending.
Strauss died in 2005. No one has publicly defended him.
