A Lansing court has sentenced a former Michigan State University dean to nearly one year in jail for “neglect of duty and misconduct in office,” according to a Lansing State Journal report.
On Wednesday, William Strampel, the former osteopathic medical school’s dean, was sentenced by the Ingham County Court to 11 months in prison for sexual misconduct while in office and one year for willful neglect of duty charges. Both the sentences will run concurrently.
Strampel was convicted by the court in June for not fulfilling his responsibility of keeping a check on disgraced physician Larry Nassar – whether he was following the protocols meant to decrease risk to the university.
In 2017, Nassar was sentenced to 40-175 years in prison over three-child pornography and 10 sexual assault charges. The university paid $500 million to settle the lawsuit with 332 victims of sexual abuse.
In 2018, four female medical students accused Strampel of sexual harassment and proposing them to have sex in return for preferential treatment.
“If you brandish your power to demean, insult, harass, objectify, and abuse women, you will be held accountable,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement.
“While Mr. Strampel’s sentence will never give back the years of pain and suffering his victims had to endure, the persistence of these courageous survivors made certain that he could no longer hide behind the title he once held to escape the reach of justice.”
Former President Lou Anna Simon was charged with two counts of misdemeanor and two felony counts of lying to police over the way the school handled the complaints against the physician.
She is accused of concealing information regarding the investigation launched against Nassar in 2014. She had told the police that she didn’t know the physician under investigation was Nassar.
WATCH: "He was supposed to protect us & he chose to betray us." Victims spoke Wednesday as former MSU dean William Strampel was sentenced to jail for his role in the Larry Nassar abuse case; Stampel was convicted of neglect of duty & misconduct in office. https://t.co/CV3YOrWYsy pic.twitter.com/uyUxIV1KqN
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) August 7, 2019
Earlier this month, a report by Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), found athletes vulnerable to sexual abuse due to lack of oversight, independence, and transparency. In Nassar’s sexual abuse case, the report found U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and USA Gymnast of knowingly concealing abuse, which led to abuse of dozens of additional amateur athletes between summer of 2015 to September 2016.
Michigan State University and the FBI were also reported to have failed in their job to protect the athletes.
Michigan State Launches New Investigation into Handling of Nassar Abuse