Third Lawsuit Filed Against Ohio State Over Sexual Abuse Scandal
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. A third lawsuit has been filed against Ohio State University accusing the school of ignoring sexual misconduct by a team doctor. More than 100 former students have reported firsthand accounts of abuse by Dr. Richard Strauss. He died by suicide in 2005. The university announced in April that it is investigating the allegations against Strauss. Edward Sutelan is Editor-in-Chief of The Lantern at Ohio State, good to see you, joining us from Washington. So what can you tell us about this latest accusation and lawsuit?</s>EDWARD SUTELAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE LANTERN AT OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: Yes. So in the latest lawsuit filed against Ohio State basically comes from a number of different plaintiffs. In each of the three previous ones, they've all been class action. This one has been led by someone named Steve Snyder-Hill who claims that when he was a student at Ohio State, he went to a physical with Dr. Strauss. And during the physical, he was abused by Strauss. Afterward, he then went to the director of Student Health Services, Ted Grace, and complained to him about these accusations. Now, these was -- and he said that -- he said there was no action taken after that. That Grace took the side of Strauss. Now, the lawsuit also cites that Ohio State knew as early as 1978 when Strauss was first hired that complaints had been made suggesting sexual abuse from the doctor. So in a number of these allegations, it's always claimed that Ohio State had knowledge of and had received complaints of the sexual abuse from the doctor. These are ones that go into more specific detail.</s>WHITFIELD: So how is that documented? I mean, how does the university or how is it able to reflect, you know, what its response was at the time and now?</s>SUTELAN: Yes, it's tough to say. One of the biggest issues that Ohio State has run into is the fact that a lot of these documents aren't necessarily kept for too long. Much of the investigation has been done sort of through witnesses. And it's sort of just trying to piece together different things, you know, like Ted Grace is no longer with the university. They've also talked now with recently with more than 100 former student-athletes and students who were abused by Strauss. So at least for right now, there's not a ton of documentation that they necessarily can comb through, at least that I'm aware of. And it's mostly been just going through old witnesses and talking to them about it.</s>WHITFIELD: So Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan was a wrestling coach during that time of this alleged abuse, you know, carried out by Dr. Strauss. But some of the accusers say Jordan knew about the abuse or at least should have known. Listen to how he responded in a Fox News interview earlier this month.</s>REP. JIM JORDAN (R), OHIO: It's false. I mean, I never saw, never heard of, never was told about any type of abuse. Conversations in a locker room are a lot different than people come up talking about abuse. No one ever reported any abuse to me. If they had, I would have dealt with it. And what bothers me the most is the guys that are saying this thing, I know they know the truth. I know they do.</s>WHITFIELD: So does that suffice or is this still a problem? Is the school even responding to his tenure there and any, you know, correlation or knowledge of this?</s>SUTELAN: Yes. I mean, with Jim Jordan, there have been a lot of wrestlers who have come forward and said that during his tenure as an assistant coach there that he knew. There also have been several who have come to his defense and say he did not know about the allegations. You know, it's one of those things, again, there's not a ton of hard evidence necessarily at the moment to say, at least that I'm aware of, to say that he for sure know, he for sure did not know. What we do know now is that, several people, you know, have come forward saying, you know, of course he knew, he was an assistant coach at the time. All the coaches knew. And several others have come out saying, you know, well, he did not know. What we do know about the coaching staff of the wrestling team, the head coach, Russ Hellickson, did know and he complained several times to the university. Specifically, he said that there was, I believe he called it a cesspool of deviancy at the Larkins Hall, which is -- was at that time the recreational facility, students would use it. The wrestlers would use it. So he was aware of allegations against Strauss of sexual abuse, and he did bring those up to the university, requesting that his wrestling team be moved from Larkins Hall to some place more private. And based on all the documents that I've seen and based on previous lawsuits and what Russ Hellickson has said, the university did not do anything about his claims. They essentially just kept them in Larkins Hall.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Well, these lawsuits ongoing now with this newest one being filed. Ed Sutelan, thank you so much. It is a disturbing story all the way around, all right. Also very disturbing, babies taken from their parents, put up for adoption without consent. And now, some of those taken away as infants are finding their biological parents decades later, their stories coming up.