By staff and wire reports
COLUMBUS – Governor Mike DeWine is calling for lifting Ohio’s statute of limitations on rape cases following the release of a report that says a now-dead Ohio State team doctor sexually abused at least 177 students decades ago.
DeWine declared the late Ohio State University team doctor Richard Strauss a monster Monday as he also ordered a review of the state medical board’s handling of the case.
“If this man was still alive and could not be prosecuted, I think people would be furious,” DeWine said.
Strauss committed suicide in 2005.
A former prosecutor and state attorney general, the governor argued the law should be different in such cases because “we just know from all the evidence and all the studies that many times victims never come forward, many times victims can’t come forward.”
The latest: Strauss’ family says it’s heartbreaking to see the pain so many have suffered. A new statement released Monday night says the family continues to be shocked and saddened by what happened and that their condolences go out to the abuse survivors and their families for the trauma they have endured over several decades.
Attorneys for nearly 60 men who say they were sexually abused by Strauss want Ohio State to release the names of coaches and administrators who allegedly knew about the wrongdoing but did nothing.
The report on the investigation conducted by a law firm and released by the school Friday found that Strauss sexually abused at least 177 male students from the 1970s to the 1990s. A lawyer said Saturday that some members of the football team who were Strauss’ victims are not included in that total.
DeWine also called for state lawmakers extend time limits for bringing charges in many other types of sexual crimes. The idea has failed to gain traction in the past, but DeWine said he believes the Strauss case can go far to persuade reticent legislators.
A Democratic bill lifting the statute fizzled in the Statehouse in 2018 and a Republican bill introduced last week allows victims of sex abuse by a “physician employed by a land-grant university” to pursue civil action, a measure that appears to apply only to the Strauss case.
“We’re disappointed, but not surprised, that this bill misses that mark so terribly by failing to protect the many other Ohioans around our state who are equally deserving of justice,” said Reps. Lisa Sobecki (D-Toledo) and Tavia Galonski (D-Akron), co-sponsors of the Democratic proposal, in a joint statement.
The call for the elimination of the statute of limitations was one of several measures DeWine announced Monday aimed at preventing a repeat of the Strauss case.
He signed an executive order at a Statehouse news conference creating a group to review a complete, unredacted version of the Strauss report to see what the Ohio Medical Board knew about Strauss and when. Portions of the report involving the board’s actions had been blacked out.
“The question we’re faced with is: Did the State Medical Board of Ohio take appropriate action regarding Richard Strauss?” DeWine said.
The medical board conducted a confidential investigation into Strauss in 1996. The board never disciplined him and has refused to disclose details, citing confidentiality rules. Ohio State went to court to make the information public as part of the Strauss report but was unsuccessful.
DeWine said that calling for the review does not imply the board mishandled the case but that it’s impossible to know without investigating further. He also has asked the state’s Changing Campus Culture initiative to expand its work from focusing on prevention of student-on-student sexual assault to include faculty and staff members.
The board said in an emailed statement that it welcomes DeWine’s group.
“Since the start of Ohio State’s investigation, we have wanted to cooperate and share information but had to do so within the constraints of the law,” it said. “The board is thankful that the executive order will provide an opportunity to further evaluate the current laws and processes.”
DeWine also charged the working group to study privacy laws and those governing mandatory reporting of sexual abuse, including those incidents that occur on college campuses.
OSU officials at the time would have been obligated to report felony offenses to police, said Sarah Ackman, a legal adviser to DeWine. The governor said that did not appear to have happened.
Brian Garrett, a former nursing student who witnessed and experienced Strauss’ abuse, said after the news conference that he is hopeful DeWine is committed to help victims heal.
He asked the governor at the news conference to support separate legislation that would allow Strauss’ victims the legal opportunity to hold the university accountable for Strauss’ sexual abuse. DeWine responded that he would review the bill.
“I haven’t slept much in a year, and all the other victims are the same. My work life’s been affected, my personal life’s been affected. I am done; I am ready to move on. This is a good step, and I would love to see Gov. DeWine get the legislators to put through our House bill and sign off on it.”
The group DeWine created will be chaired by state Public Safety Director Tom Stickrath. It will have as many as 17 members, including representatives of state and local law enforcement; the attorney general’s office; the state auditor’s office; the state health and mental health departments; a county coroner; a county prosecutor; and a victim advocate.
The panel is to report its findings to the governor and the Legislature by Aug. 1.
The law firm’s report found that Strauss engaged in a pattern of sexual abuse of male students from the 1970s to the 1990s — groping, ogling and violating them in examination rooms, locker rooms, saunas and showers, at the student health center and at an off-campus clinic.
The investigation determined that various university officials knew what Strauss was doing and did little to stop it. University President Michael Drake expressed shock and heartbreak and issued a public apology for “consistent institutional failure” during Strauss’ employment.
“We share Governor DeWine’s concern and compassion for survivors of sexual abuse and applaud the administration’s efforts to strengthen sexual misconduct reporting to law enforcement. We will continue to advocate for permission to release the redacted portions of the Strauss investigative report,” Drake wrote in a statement released Monday.
The Strauss case has been compared to that of ex-Michigan State University sports doctor Larry Nassar, who was accused of molesting at least 250 women and girls and is serving what amounts to a life sentence.