Michigan State official William Strampel, who oversaw Larry Nassar at a clinic, has been charged with criminal sexual conduct.
LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan State University official who oversaw a clinic that employed Larry Nassar was charged Tuesday with sexually propositioning female medical students and compiling nude student „selfies“ on his work computer, in the first charges to spring from an investigation into how complaints against the disgraced former sports doctor were handled.
William Strampel, who until December was dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, also was charged with failing to enforce or monitor protocols set for Nassar after a female patient complained of inappropriate sexual contact.
The 70-year-old Strampel, who has been jailed, was scheduled for arraignment in the afternoon. His attorney, John Dakmak, declined to comment.
The complaint, which alleges Strampel solicited nude photos from at least one female medical student, said he used his office to „harass, discriminate, demean, sexually proposition, and sexually assault female students in violation of his statutory duty as a public officer.“
His computer contained approximately 50 photos of female genitalia, nude and semi-nude women, sex toys and pornography. „Many of these photos are of what appear to be `selfies‘ of female MSU students, as evidence by the MSU clothing and piercings featured in multiple photos,“ according to the complaint.
He is also accused of grabbing students‘ buttocks on the dance floor at the college’s annual ball and at a scholarship dinner.
The maximum penalty for the charges ranges from one year in jail to five years in prison.
Attorney John C. Manly, who represents more than 150 survivors of Nassar’s abuse, issued a statement Monday.
„Our clients are encouraged by the Attorney General’s action today,“ Manly said in the statement. „It demonstrates that he is serious about investigating the systemic misconduct at MSU that led to the largest child sex abuse scandal in history and holding the responsible parties accountable.“
ESPN has obtained copies of former university-conducted performance reviews for Strampel during his time as Michigan State’s dean that contained several complaints about his habit of making inappropriate remarks of a sexual nature in professional settings. The reviews include surveys in which respondents paint a picture of Strampel as a capable fundraiser and decisive administrator, but someone who „rules with fear“ and regularly interjected sexual innuendo and comments about the appearance of women into conversations with students and co-workers.
According to one respondent, Strampel’s discussions about his own sexual history and inappropriate comments were „well known and bring down the respect and reputation of the Osteopathic college. I do not think this is a new issue, instead I think it is something that the College has chosen to ignore, for what reason I dare not imagine and cannot fathom.“
Strampel was a focal point for the attorney general’s ongoing investigation into whether any other individuals who worked at Michigan State should be held accountable for allowing Nassar to sexually abuse his patients for nearly two decades as a doctor on the university’s campus. Strampel stepped down from his role as dean last December citing medical problems. The university took initial steps in February to have him fired, a process that can take several months or longer.
„Interim President John Engler has felt like this is someone who doesn’t carry forth the values of the university going forward, and this conduct is not going to be tolerated,“ university spokeswoman Emily Guerrant said Monday night.
Strampel came to Michigan State in the late 1990s and was promoted to his position as dean in 2002. He told police last spring that he had little or no interaction with Nassar before 2014, when a recently graduated student lodged a complaint that Nassar touched her inappropriately during an appointment at the MSU Sports Medicine clinic.
That complaint, filed by Amanda Thomashow, led to an investigation into Nassar’s conduct by university police and the school’s Title IX department. Michigan State’s Title IX office cleared Nassar of wrongdoing in the summer of 2014, telling Thomashow that she didn’t understand the „nuanced difference“ between sexual assault and a legitimate medical procedure. The panel of four experts that helped the office reach that conclusion included Nassar’s colleagues and one woman described as his protégé and close friend.
Strampel told police that he believed the Title IX decision showed Nassar was „cleared of all charges,“ so he allowed him to resume seeing patients on Michigan State’s campus in late July 2014. Nassar remained under police investigation for the same incident until December 2015. Several women say they were abused by Nassar during that time frame.
When he returned to the clinic in 2014, Nassar and Strampel agreed to a new set of guidelines to use when he was treating patients in sensitive areas. The guidelines included that Nassar should explain fully what he was doing before touching patients near their genitalia or other private areas, that he should avoid skin-to-skin contact whenever possible, and that a chaperone should be present during any such treatment.
Strampel told police he didn’t think it was necessary to follow up to make sure Nassar was following the protocol, and he did not inform other employees at the clinic about the new rules. Strampel fired Nassar in September 2016 when he learned that Nassar had been ignoring those guidelines for two years. More than a dozen women and girls say they were abused during that time.
Information from ESPN’s Dan Murphy and The Associated Press was used in this report.
