Larry Nassar’s Former Boss William Strampel, Charged With Sexual Assault
William Strampel, a former dean of Michigan State University, has been arrested by police on Monday and is allegedly facing multiple charges of sexual assault. Strampel, who was the boss of disgraced USA Gymnastics national team doctor Larry Nassar at MSU, is being held at the Ingham County Jail, Detroit Free Press reported.
Ingham County Sheriff Scott Wrigglesworth confirmed that the 70-year-old Strampel has been arrested. He, however, refused to divulge any details of the former MSU dean’s case, saying these will only be revealed once Strampel is arraigned. According to Detroit Free Press, however, Strampel is facing one felony charge and a number of misdemeanors.
In a later report by Reuters, it was revealed that Strampel has been charged on Tuesday morning with four cases of criminal sexual conduct. One student has accused Strampel of forcible sexual contact while others have charged him with sexual misconduct.
Strampel is also accused of procuring nude photos of female students in exchange for favors, according to Yahoo! Sports. According to court documents, Strampel’s computer contained “approximately 50 photos of bare vaginas, nude and semi-nude women, sex toys and pornography.”
“Most of these photos are what appears to be ‘selfies’ of female MSU students as evidenced by the MSU clothing and piercings featured in multiple shots.”
The forensic examination of Strampel’s computer also revealed that a close-up video of a person masturbating has been deleted along with other photos. There’s also a video of Nassar treating a female patient.
Police in Michigan have arrested William Strampel, a former Michigan State University dean and boss of Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor who is now doing time in prison https://t.co/Ty6wDLhV1N pic.twitter.com/3dpVwHaPjO
— CNN (@CNN) March 27, 2018
Documents obtained by ESPN revealed that Strampel has been the subject of complaints from students and co-workers due to his tendency to make sexually inappropriate comments. Performance reviews conducted by MSU revealed that Strampel is described as someone who “rules with fear” and is “well known” for his inappropriate comments.
The four female students who filed the charges also accused Strampel of making sexually inappropriate remarks, according to the Washington Post.
In one instance, Strampel allegedly told one of them, “I hold your entire future in my hand and I can do whatever I want with it.” Another alleged victim said Strampel told her that she “was never going to make it in the profession if she did not dress sexier.” The former dean also told her she needed “to be submissive and subordinate to men.”
Another woman accused Strampel of suggesting that she “become a centerfold model.” The accuser also said Strampel mentioned that another female student worked as a stripper to pay for medical school.
William Strampel: Michigan supervisor of Larry Nassar arrested https://t.co/1dROZkhAjO
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 27, 2018
John Dakmak, a lawyer for Strampel, told reporters that his client “denies that he ever engaged in any inappropriate touching of anyone.”
“[Strampel] denies that there was any quid pro quo for sexual favors.”
Strampel is also accused of “willful neglect of duty” after mishandling the cases against Nassar, leading to more sexual abuses. Nassar is serving 60 years in prison for child pornography and was also sentenced to over one hundred years for sexually abusing his patients, including members of the national gymnastics team.
Dakmak said Strampel named other school personalities involved in the mishandling of the complaints filed against Nassar in 2014. He also said he fired Nassar in 2016.
Strampel was the dean of MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine from 2002 until he resigned last December due to medical reasons. During his term, the 54-year-old Nassar was employed as an osteopathic physician at the university.
