A new lawsuit filed by a college wrestling referee has accused the school and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) of not taking action in his sexual misconduct complaint against Dr. Richard Strauss in 1994.
The referee who has been identified in the court documents as “John Doe 42” alleged Jordan, who was then an assistant Ohio State wrestling coach and Russ Hellickson, then OSU head coach, of not taking any action when he went to complain against Strauss for masturbating in front of him, the CNN reported.
The suit said that the university’s “ingrained culture of institutional indifference” led Strauss to sexually abuse and harass hundreds of students.
“I wish Jim, and Russ, too, would stand up and do the right thing and admit they knew what Strauss was doing, because everybody knew what he was doing to the wrestlers,” the referee was quoted by NBC News.
Last year, more than 100 former students, including members of the men’s wrestling team, reported firsthand accounts of sexual misconduct committed by Strauss.
This prompted the university to hire the services of the independent investigators at Perkins Coie LLP, who further confirmed that university officials had information about Strauss’ misconduct as early in 1979, but did not investigate his actions and failed to report his misconduct to law enforcement.
Meanwhile, Rep. Jordon has rebuffed the referee claims and termed them “ridiculous”.
“The idea I’m not going to defend our athletes when I think they’re being harmed is ridiculous,” Jordan told The Lima News. “This is just, this is someone making a false statement.”
In May, 37 former students, mostly football players and wrestlers, filed a lawsuit, the fourth one in the last two years against the university over its response to sexual assault complaints against the former doctor. It alleged that university officials “aided, abetted and actively concealed” complaints of sexual misconduct against Strauss.