OSU Lawsuit, ex-student focus on complaints about doc

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Four former wrestlers say in a new lawsuit that Ohio State University officials ignored repeated complaints about “rampant sexual misconduct” by a now-dead team doctor, and a former student confirmed Tuesday that investigators have documentation about at least one decades-old incident that prompted a complaint.

Former student Steve Snyder-Hill said he wrote to a student health center official in the 1990s after being examined by Dr. Richard Strauss, whose behavior is the subject of an independent investigation that began months ago.

OSU says allegations raised in recent months about Strauss involve male athletes from 14 sports, as well as the physician’s work at the student health center and his off-campus medical office.

Snyder-Hill said he went to the health center because of a lump on his chest, but Strauss conducted a genital exam and pressed himself into him, at which point the patient realized the doctor had an erection.

Snyder-Hill said officials responding to his complaint back then told him Strauss denied having an erection and said he was just doing his job.

Snyder-Hill said he told the officials he wanted to be notified if they ever got another complaint about Strauss, and he never heard more about it. He said he thought he’d put Strauss on notice that such behavior shouldn’t happen.

“I felt very, very secure that that guy isn’t going to do this again,” Snyder-Hill said.

Snyder-Hill said he contacted the investigators looking into Strauss after seeing news reports about former athletes and students who have raised allegations about Strauss in recent months, and the investigators confirmed having paperwork about the incident that led to his complaint. It was first reported by The Columbus Dispatch.