Surviving Ohio State

1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074 Do you want subtitles for any video? -=[ ai.OpenSubtitles.com ]=- 2 00:00:25,900 --> 00:00:27,110 HBO SPORTS DOCUMENTARIES PRESENTS 3 00:00:27,193 --> 00:00:30,989 Growing up in Ohio, everyone wants to be a Buckeye. 4 00:00:31,072 --> 00:00:32,115 A 101 & SI STUDIOS PRODUCTION 5 00:00:32,198 --> 00:00:35,160 Ohio State is an identity of winning, 6 00:00:36,494 --> 00:00:38,163 and that's what we're about. 7 00:00:38,246 --> 00:00:39,914 A SMOKEHOUSE PICTURES PRODUCTION 8 00:00:39,998 --> 00:00:42,834 The impact of Ohio State's athletic department 9 00:00:42,917 --> 00:00:44,335 cannot be exaggerated. 10 00:00:44,419 --> 00:00:45,503 EXECUTIVE PRODUCER JON WERTHEIM 11 00:00:46,796 --> 00:00:48,882 It's such a point of pride. 12 00:00:48,965 --> 00:00:50,300 -O-H. -I-O! 13 00:00:50,383 --> 00:00:52,052 -O-H! -I-O! 14 00:00:52,135 --> 00:00:53,928 -O-H! -I-O! 15 00:00:55,346 --> 00:00:56,598 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY NICK HIGGINS 16 00:00:56,639 --> 00:00:58,475 It was and still is 17 00:00:58,516 --> 00:01:00,935 one of the best equipped, most well-funded, 18 00:01:01,019 --> 00:01:03,605 most lavish athletic departments in the country. 19 00:01:03,688 --> 00:01:06,524 It's the gold standard for college sports. 20 00:01:06,608 --> 00:01:08,443 PRODUCER DAVID GLASSER p.g.a. 21 00:01:09,486 --> 00:01:11,780 If you're a Buckeye athlete at Ohio State, 22 00:01:11,863 --> 00:01:13,490 you are a superhero. 23 00:01:14,157 --> 00:01:16,367 I was so proud to be a Buckeye. 24 00:01:16,451 --> 00:01:18,369 It was a big, big deal. 25 00:01:18,453 --> 00:01:19,746 PRODUCERS GRANT HESLOV, p.g.a. AND GEORGE CLOONEY p.g.a. 26 00:01:19,829 --> 00:01:22,248 We were like, "We are Ohio State athletes here." 27 00:01:22,332 --> 00:01:23,792 That was what it was all about. 28 00:01:23,875 --> 00:01:24,876 PRODUCED BY EVA ORNER p.g.a. 29 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:26,795 We bled OSU. 30 00:01:29,464 --> 00:01:31,549 The Buckeyes are a religion. 31 00:01:32,300 --> 00:01:36,012 We believed in The Ohio State University. 32 00:01:38,306 --> 00:01:40,600 We believed in the scarlet and gray... 33 00:01:43,853 --> 00:01:45,855 until we learned the truth. 34 00:01:45,939 --> 00:01:51,778 DIRECTED BY EVA ORNER 35 00:01:52,987 --> 00:01:59,285 SURVIVING OHIO STATE 36 00:02:03,957 --> 00:02:08,711 THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY COLUMBUS, OHIO 37 00:02:25,562 --> 00:02:28,815 Sexual misconduct allegations, 40 years in the making 38 00:02:28,898 --> 00:02:30,441 at The Ohio State University. 39 00:02:30,525 --> 00:02:32,527 Ohio State is investigating 40 00:02:32,610 --> 00:02:35,405 a former trainer for the Buckeye wrestling team. 41 00:02:35,488 --> 00:02:37,991 The trainer, Dr. Richard Strauss. 42 00:02:38,074 --> 00:02:39,784 Tonight, only on 4, 43 00:02:39,868 --> 00:02:42,245 the victim who says he's one who sparked 44 00:02:42,328 --> 00:02:43,872 the investigation 45 00:02:43,955 --> 00:02:45,874 and is opening up about those allegations. 46 00:02:45,957 --> 00:02:49,961 When I started reporting on the initial story in 2018, 47 00:02:50,044 --> 00:02:51,963 it focused on one man, 48 00:02:52,046 --> 00:02:54,632 a wrestler at The Ohio State University, 49 00:02:54,716 --> 00:02:57,802 who alleged he'd been abused by a team doctor. 50 00:02:58,469 --> 00:03:01,598 My initial reaction was, "Can that be true? 51 00:03:01,723 --> 00:03:03,308 I wonder if that's true." 52 00:03:03,391 --> 00:03:06,436 But what he was saying was so incendiary, 53 00:03:06,477 --> 00:03:08,521 that a university doctor 54 00:03:08,605 --> 00:03:10,607 had sexually molested not just him 55 00:03:10,690 --> 00:03:12,650 but other athletes as well, 56 00:03:12,734 --> 00:03:15,737 and this had gone on for decades. 57 00:03:15,820 --> 00:03:18,448 And, sure enough, others started coming forward. 58 00:03:18,531 --> 00:03:20,700 Another former Ohio State student has... 59 00:03:20,783 --> 00:03:23,912 Two more former Buckeye wrestlers have come forward... 60 00:03:23,995 --> 00:03:25,496 More victims coming forward 61 00:03:25,580 --> 00:03:27,332 with allegations against a... 62 00:03:27,415 --> 00:03:30,084 And that just opened the floodgates for me. 63 00:03:34,005 --> 00:03:35,590 New details tonight about the alleged 64 00:03:35,673 --> 00:03:37,133 sexual misconduct involving 65 00:03:37,217 --> 00:03:39,969 an OSU wrestling team doctor. 66 00:03:40,053 --> 00:03:42,388 Who was this accused doctor? 67 00:03:42,472 --> 00:03:45,141 I had trouble finding any information about him. 68 00:03:45,225 --> 00:03:47,685 It's very difficult to find a photograph 69 00:03:47,769 --> 00:03:49,812 of this Dr. Richard Strauss. 70 00:03:49,896 --> 00:03:52,273 The university itself doesn't have a lot 71 00:03:52,357 --> 00:03:54,442 of photographic evidence of this man. 72 00:03:54,525 --> 00:03:56,110 He's like an enigma. 73 00:03:56,945 --> 00:03:58,196 It's weird. 74 00:03:59,197 --> 00:04:02,075 It almost felt like it was by design. 75 00:04:03,618 --> 00:04:06,371 And that made this all the more troubling. 76 00:04:08,998 --> 00:04:12,460 You know, we've always been proudly a Buckeye family. 77 00:04:12,585 --> 00:04:14,587 When I dropped my son off at a dorm 78 00:04:14,629 --> 00:04:16,339 at The Ohio State University 79 00:04:16,422 --> 00:04:18,258 when he was 18 years old, 80 00:04:18,341 --> 00:04:20,718 my first one to leave the nest, 81 00:04:20,802 --> 00:04:23,221 I cried after I left the dorm, 82 00:04:23,304 --> 00:04:25,974 but I thought, "Well, at least he's in good hands. 83 00:04:26,933 --> 00:04:29,269 He's at The Ohio State University." 84 00:04:30,228 --> 00:04:33,773 All of these men were dropped off at Ohio State. 85 00:04:34,732 --> 00:04:37,568 I want to know why this happened to them, 86 00:04:37,652 --> 00:04:39,153 how a sexual predator 87 00:04:39,237 --> 00:04:41,072 could've been allowed to be on campus 88 00:04:41,155 --> 00:04:42,907 for 20 years. 89 00:04:43,032 --> 00:04:44,659 How did it happen? 90 00:05:04,345 --> 00:05:06,514 When the Ohio State scandal broke, 91 00:05:06,597 --> 00:05:08,182 my first thought was, 92 00:05:08,266 --> 00:05:10,685 "I don't know if I want to go into this. 93 00:05:10,768 --> 00:05:13,146 You know, this is... this is going down a rabbit hole 94 00:05:13,229 --> 00:05:14,772 I'm not prepared for right now." 95 00:05:19,402 --> 00:05:21,029 And so I left it alone. 96 00:05:24,699 --> 00:05:26,659 I'm a public school teacher, 97 00:05:27,660 --> 00:05:29,537 and one day, 98 00:05:29,620 --> 00:05:33,374 I'm-I'm sitting in-in... in our teachers' lounge, 99 00:05:33,458 --> 00:05:35,626 and some of the other guys are talking about it. 100 00:05:37,378 --> 00:05:41,799 And one of the male teachers, an older guy, 101 00:05:41,883 --> 00:05:45,511 he said, "Well, I can't believe that. Man, if... 102 00:05:45,595 --> 00:05:48,014 You know, if I was there, if this happened to me, 103 00:05:48,681 --> 00:05:50,558 I'd kick that guy's ass." 104 00:05:51,476 --> 00:05:52,894 And I'm thinking, "Man, 105 00:05:52,977 --> 00:05:55,396 you have no idea what you're talking about." 106 00:05:56,481 --> 00:05:58,358 And the next thought was, 107 00:05:58,441 --> 00:06:00,902 "I'm gonna have to talk about this. 108 00:06:01,444 --> 00:06:03,529 Oh, shit. Here we go." 109 00:06:09,369 --> 00:06:11,829 For the Buckeyes, it's gonna be Dan Ritchie. 110 00:06:12,580 --> 00:06:14,415 -Get up! -Up, up! 111 00:06:14,499 --> 00:06:16,584 Stay on the leg! Don't come across the back! 112 00:06:16,667 --> 00:06:18,419 Initially, I got into wrestling 113 00:06:18,503 --> 00:06:20,129 because my dad thought, 114 00:06:20,213 --> 00:06:21,589 "This is a great sport for him. 115 00:06:21,672 --> 00:06:24,759 You know, he can get stronger and get in shape." 116 00:06:25,385 --> 00:06:28,096 At the time, I was kind of a scrawny kid. 117 00:06:29,138 --> 00:06:31,808 But there was something about wrestling, 118 00:06:31,891 --> 00:06:33,101 and... 119 00:06:34,352 --> 00:06:35,561 I just grew with it. 120 00:06:37,271 --> 00:06:38,898 It became part of me. 121 00:06:40,108 --> 00:06:41,484 It was pretty amazing. 122 00:06:43,236 --> 00:06:46,614 I liked being out there by myself, relying on myself. 123 00:06:46,697 --> 00:06:49,158 I know if I put the hard work in 124 00:06:49,242 --> 00:06:51,369 and I win, it's because I did the work. 125 00:06:52,161 --> 00:06:53,704 And I did the work. 126 00:06:54,789 --> 00:06:56,165 And I won. 127 00:06:57,166 --> 00:06:58,668 My high school coach, 128 00:06:58,751 --> 00:07:00,169 at the beginning of the season, 129 00:07:00,253 --> 00:07:02,338 he showed me the rankings and said, 130 00:07:02,422 --> 00:07:05,007 you know, "You're ranked number one in the state." 131 00:07:05,091 --> 00:07:07,260 I'm like, "What?" I was like... 132 00:07:08,010 --> 00:07:10,012 You know, and for me, that was amazing. 133 00:07:10,721 --> 00:07:13,558 Ritchie, despite coming from a downstate school, 134 00:07:13,641 --> 00:07:16,018 a lot of people doubted his ability 135 00:07:16,102 --> 00:07:18,938 for that reason, but he's been dominant all year. 136 00:07:19,439 --> 00:07:22,692 The entire season, went undefeated, 137 00:07:22,775 --> 00:07:24,444 and I won the state tournament. 138 00:07:25,319 --> 00:07:28,197 And the 1988 state champion 139 00:07:28,281 --> 00:07:30,408 at 167 in AA, 140 00:07:30,491 --> 00:07:32,326 Dan Ritchie. 141 00:07:35,371 --> 00:07:36,706 Dan Ritchie... 142 00:07:39,250 --> 00:07:41,419 And that is what got me 143 00:07:41,544 --> 00:07:43,796 my scholarship to Ohio State. 144 00:07:46,549 --> 00:07:48,801 When I got there, it was 1988. 145 00:07:50,052 --> 00:07:53,389 My hometown, the population was 32,000 people. 146 00:07:53,473 --> 00:07:57,894 The population of Ohio State itself was 50,000. 147 00:07:57,977 --> 00:07:59,979 So it was overwhelming, 148 00:08:00,062 --> 00:08:02,857 but I figured, if I have wrestling, 149 00:08:02,940 --> 00:08:05,735 I have a group of guys that I can hang out with. 150 00:08:07,820 --> 00:08:09,530 And I met my roommate, Mike Schyck, 151 00:08:09,614 --> 00:08:10,948 another wrestler, 152 00:08:12,241 --> 00:08:13,951 and we hit it off immediately. 153 00:08:15,119 --> 00:08:16,954 The first time I ever met Dan, 154 00:08:17,038 --> 00:08:19,582 you know, he's got the Vanilla Ice, like, 155 00:08:20,082 --> 00:08:21,709 shavings in his head. 156 00:08:22,752 --> 00:08:25,546 I'm like, "This is my... my roommate? Oh, no." 157 00:08:27,089 --> 00:08:30,051 But, you know, soon enough, we became best friends. 158 00:08:31,802 --> 00:08:34,805 We both loved wrestling, more than loved wrestling. 159 00:08:36,182 --> 00:08:38,184 Wrestling was everything for me 160 00:08:39,477 --> 00:08:41,103 and had been since I was a kid. 161 00:08:41,187 --> 00:08:43,523 Come on, Mike! 162 00:08:46,317 --> 00:08:48,444 Growing up, I was kind of scrappy. 163 00:08:48,528 --> 00:08:50,238 Well, if we keep working together, 164 00:08:50,321 --> 00:08:51,614 we can make it to state. 165 00:08:52,198 --> 00:08:55,034 My eighth-grade year, I ended up beating a senior. 166 00:08:55,117 --> 00:08:56,661 I made it to state. 167 00:08:57,578 --> 00:08:59,789 I was the first person that was an eighth-grader 168 00:08:59,872 --> 00:09:01,249 that made it to state. 169 00:09:02,416 --> 00:09:04,085 I was in the state finals my freshman year, 170 00:09:04,168 --> 00:09:05,586 took second. 171 00:09:06,837 --> 00:09:08,631 My sophomore year, took third. 172 00:09:08,714 --> 00:09:10,299 Mike Schyck. 173 00:09:10,383 --> 00:09:12,176 And I won it my next two years. 174 00:09:12,260 --> 00:09:14,720 At 152 pounds, our champion, 175 00:09:14,804 --> 00:09:16,013 Mike Schyck. 176 00:09:18,849 --> 00:09:21,602 I got a lot of schools that were sending me letters 177 00:09:21,686 --> 00:09:23,187 and recruiting stuff all the time. 178 00:09:24,146 --> 00:09:26,482 I even got personal notes from the head wrestling coach 179 00:09:26,566 --> 00:09:28,568 at Ohio State, Russ Hellickson. 180 00:09:29,443 --> 00:09:31,571 Russ Hellickson was a two-time Olympian, 181 00:09:32,405 --> 00:09:35,616 and he was one of the best coaches in the country. 182 00:09:35,741 --> 00:09:37,910 Fellas, I sit over there in the corner 183 00:09:37,994 --> 00:09:39,579 as a wrestling coach. 184 00:09:39,704 --> 00:09:42,248 I don't see enough fight. 185 00:09:42,331 --> 00:09:45,376 Russ was just starting as a new coach at Ohio State, 186 00:09:45,459 --> 00:09:47,461 and he promised to make winners. 187 00:09:47,545 --> 00:09:49,880 That's what I wanted. I didn't want excuses. 188 00:09:49,964 --> 00:09:52,008 Fellas, you know, if-if nothing else, 189 00:09:52,091 --> 00:09:54,093 by the time you get back, you will be in the best shape 190 00:09:54,176 --> 00:09:55,469 of anybody on this planet. 191 00:09:56,304 --> 00:09:58,556 And Hellickson came with his assistant, 192 00:09:58,639 --> 00:09:59,807 Jim Jordan, 193 00:09:59,890 --> 00:10:01,475 and Jordan was a legend. 194 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:04,395 I watched him win his first NCAA title, 195 00:10:04,478 --> 00:10:06,397 and then this guy wins a second national title 196 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:07,565 the following year. 197 00:10:07,648 --> 00:10:09,650 I mean, it was unbelievable. 198 00:10:10,151 --> 00:10:12,028 I didn't choose Ohio State because of Ohio State. 199 00:10:12,111 --> 00:10:13,821 I chose Ohio State because of Russ Hellickson 200 00:10:13,904 --> 00:10:15,156 and Jim Jordan 201 00:10:15,656 --> 00:10:17,825 and the program they were developing. 202 00:10:17,908 --> 00:10:20,077 They were gonna go all the way. 203 00:10:20,161 --> 00:10:21,746 I'm like, "I want to do that." 204 00:10:27,126 --> 00:10:28,961 That Ohio State team, 205 00:10:29,045 --> 00:10:30,963 it was gonna give me a chance to live my dream 206 00:10:31,047 --> 00:10:33,966 of not only becoming a national champion, 207 00:10:34,008 --> 00:10:36,177 but I had big dreams. 208 00:10:36,260 --> 00:10:38,512 I was gonna be an Olympic champion. 209 00:10:40,097 --> 00:10:42,141 Russ Hellickson, Olympian, 210 00:10:42,224 --> 00:10:44,602 he could've helped that dream come true. 211 00:10:46,937 --> 00:10:49,565 And everybody knew who Jim Jordan was. 212 00:10:50,358 --> 00:10:52,026 This guy was an animal. 213 00:10:54,278 --> 00:10:55,613 Very religious, 214 00:10:56,113 --> 00:10:57,531 honest. 215 00:10:58,199 --> 00:10:59,784 He was the good guy. 216 00:11:00,660 --> 00:11:02,703 And at the same time, he could whup some ass. 217 00:11:03,371 --> 00:11:05,331 Just the perfect... perfect man. 218 00:11:08,501 --> 00:11:10,878 After a pretty tight match, Jim came up to me, was like, 219 00:11:10,961 --> 00:11:12,963 "Man, that was... that was like a great match. 220 00:11:13,047 --> 00:11:15,049 You know, I think we're gonna let you on the team." 221 00:11:15,675 --> 00:11:18,469 And I was excited to be on the team. Really excited. 222 00:11:19,136 --> 00:11:21,972 I saw such potential at Ohio State. 223 00:11:22,473 --> 00:11:23,974 You're looking around, 224 00:11:24,058 --> 00:11:26,310 your first thought is, "National champions." 225 00:11:26,394 --> 00:11:27,395 Let's do this. 226 00:11:31,190 --> 00:11:33,984 So, leading into the beginning of the school year, 227 00:11:34,068 --> 00:11:35,277 we had to get our physicals. 228 00:11:36,237 --> 00:11:37,988 I've had to do physicals in high school 229 00:11:38,072 --> 00:11:39,657 with your family practitioner 230 00:11:39,740 --> 00:11:42,243 doing minimal stuff, and you're in and out. 231 00:11:42,326 --> 00:11:43,411 This was a different thing. 232 00:11:45,037 --> 00:11:47,206 They had mass physicals 233 00:11:47,289 --> 00:11:49,291 where there was different stations, 234 00:11:49,417 --> 00:11:51,627 and you would go to one station 235 00:11:51,711 --> 00:11:53,546 and they would fit you for a mouthpiece. 236 00:11:54,046 --> 00:11:55,464 You'd go to another station, 237 00:11:55,548 --> 00:11:56,799 they'd take your blood pressure, 238 00:11:56,882 --> 00:11:59,635 go to another station, they'd check your reflexes. 239 00:12:03,097 --> 00:12:05,725 Finally, we made our way to a line 240 00:12:05,808 --> 00:12:07,977 that was right in front of a door. 241 00:12:10,146 --> 00:12:11,605 That line, it was kind of backed up. 242 00:12:12,690 --> 00:12:14,859 And some of the upperclassmen were commenting, 243 00:12:14,942 --> 00:12:16,777 "Hey, this is gonna take you a while." 244 00:12:17,528 --> 00:12:18,738 They were saying, 245 00:12:18,821 --> 00:12:20,698 "Oh, Doc's gonna like you." 246 00:12:20,781 --> 00:12:22,950 And they just kinda chuckled and laughed a little bit, 247 00:12:23,075 --> 00:12:25,119 and I had no idea what they meant. 248 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:27,371 Next thing you know, it's my turn. 249 00:12:28,789 --> 00:12:30,541 You walk into a room, 250 00:12:30,624 --> 00:12:32,793 and Doc's across the room. 251 00:12:36,672 --> 00:12:38,924 He had frosty white hair, 252 00:12:39,008 --> 00:12:41,802 and he just made you feel at ease 253 00:12:41,886 --> 00:12:43,721 because he was a nice guy. 254 00:12:46,682 --> 00:12:48,517 Doc Strauss was presented to us 255 00:12:48,601 --> 00:12:51,604 as the esteemed Doctor 256 00:12:51,687 --> 00:12:54,231 of Sports Medicine at Ohio State. 257 00:12:55,149 --> 00:12:57,234 Dr. Richard Strauss is an internal medicine 258 00:12:57,318 --> 00:13:00,488 and sports medicine specialist at Ohio State University. 259 00:13:00,571 --> 00:13:02,323 He is also editor of the medical journal, 260 00:13:02,406 --> 00:13:04,408 Physician and Sports Medicine. 261 00:13:05,493 --> 00:13:07,661 He was Dr. Richard Strauss 262 00:13:07,787 --> 00:13:09,914 from The Ohio State University, 263 00:13:09,997 --> 00:13:12,792 and he had the badge on his left chest to prove it. 264 00:13:15,252 --> 00:13:17,379 He did the entire body check. 265 00:13:17,463 --> 00:13:18,964 Checked our skin. 266 00:13:19,048 --> 00:13:20,716 Because with wrestling, skin issues 267 00:13:20,758 --> 00:13:23,219 might keep you off the wrestling mat because they're contagious. 268 00:13:24,386 --> 00:13:27,348 He checked under our arms, checked our vitals. 269 00:13:27,431 --> 00:13:29,892 And then he tells me to turn the lights off. 270 00:13:32,019 --> 00:13:33,896 And he got down on a stool 271 00:13:34,647 --> 00:13:37,817 and tapped the side of your legs and say, 272 00:13:37,900 --> 00:13:39,276 "All right, drop 'em." 273 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:41,153 And it's dark. 274 00:13:41,237 --> 00:13:42,738 Can't even see anything, you know? 275 00:13:42,822 --> 00:13:44,323 And I'm looking over at him, 276 00:13:44,406 --> 00:13:46,283 and he's got... a light pen. 277 00:13:47,701 --> 00:13:50,621 And I'm standing there, you know, looking down on a man 278 00:13:50,704 --> 00:13:53,958 who has a flashlight in his mouth at my groin level, 279 00:13:54,041 --> 00:13:55,626 and I'm seeing the top of his head. 280 00:13:55,709 --> 00:13:57,670 It-It's just really weird. 281 00:13:58,379 --> 00:13:59,505 And... 282 00:14:00,130 --> 00:14:02,842 from that point, he would grab-- 283 00:14:02,925 --> 00:14:04,218 grab your penis, 284 00:14:04,301 --> 00:14:05,845 and he's moving it around, 285 00:14:05,928 --> 00:14:07,012 moving it around. 286 00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:09,223 I was speechless. 287 00:14:09,306 --> 00:14:13,018 The entire time, you're just sitting there trying to... 288 00:14:13,853 --> 00:14:16,939 talk yourself out of getting an erection. I'm not gonna lie. 289 00:14:17,022 --> 00:14:18,774 Like, that is the one thing you're just-- 290 00:14:18,858 --> 00:14:20,484 Like, I am not-- Like... 291 00:14:20,568 --> 00:14:22,528 Now you're questioning your sexuality or something. 292 00:14:22,611 --> 00:14:24,321 You're like, "What is--" 293 00:14:24,405 --> 00:14:26,323 And he would catch you right before you say something. 294 00:14:26,407 --> 00:14:27,658 He said, "I'm just being thorough." 295 00:14:30,828 --> 00:14:33,080 And when you come out, 296 00:14:33,205 --> 00:14:35,416 we all kind of make this... 297 00:14:35,499 --> 00:14:38,043 You know, we kinda joke because we didn't know 298 00:14:38,127 --> 00:14:39,587 what we were going through. 299 00:14:40,838 --> 00:14:43,340 And I'm sure I had the same look coming out like, 300 00:14:43,424 --> 00:14:46,260 "What-- What was that? I don't get it." 301 00:14:46,343 --> 00:14:48,429 And everyone's making fun of you. 302 00:14:50,097 --> 00:14:53,100 It didn't feel right, but I just... accepted it. 303 00:14:55,102 --> 00:14:57,187 And it's not something we're gonna sit around 304 00:14:57,271 --> 00:15:00,316 and have a-a bunch of conversations about. 305 00:15:00,900 --> 00:15:02,943 Now run a mile. I want you to run as hard as you can. 306 00:15:03,027 --> 00:15:04,361 I want you to remember your time. 307 00:15:04,445 --> 00:15:06,739 And the coaches acted like everything was normal. 308 00:15:07,364 --> 00:15:10,242 They didn't make anything of it. Their focus was on training. 309 00:15:11,076 --> 00:15:12,328 Ready, go. 310 00:15:13,662 --> 00:15:15,789 I came from a conservative family. 311 00:15:15,873 --> 00:15:17,541 You know, do what you're told. 312 00:15:17,666 --> 00:15:18,959 Do this. Okay. 313 00:15:19,043 --> 00:15:20,628 Coach tells you to do this. Okay. 314 00:15:20,711 --> 00:15:22,880 Coach tells you to go here. Go, "Okay." 315 00:15:22,963 --> 00:15:24,548 I didn't know what that was. 316 00:15:25,215 --> 00:15:26,550 But we are here to wrestle. 317 00:15:26,634 --> 00:15:29,219 - O-H! - I-O! 318 00:15:29,303 --> 00:15:32,014 And as we progressed through the wrestling season, 319 00:15:32,097 --> 00:15:35,017 Russ and Jimmy beat the living tar out of us. 320 00:15:35,100 --> 00:15:38,187 Three things will be the key to success. 321 00:15:38,270 --> 00:15:41,023 We're gonna concentrate today on self. 322 00:15:42,107 --> 00:15:44,109 They brought me from an average wrestler 323 00:15:44,193 --> 00:15:46,028 to a really good wrestler. 324 00:15:46,695 --> 00:15:49,073 I was having a great career. 325 00:15:49,156 --> 00:15:50,950 I was winning everything. 326 00:15:52,743 --> 00:15:56,830 There's a beautiful roll and a Granby by Schyck. He saved the position. 327 00:15:56,914 --> 00:15:58,457 Now he's gonna try to get the takedown. 328 00:15:58,540 --> 00:16:00,542 -He got it. -He does! He wins! 329 00:16:00,626 --> 00:16:03,462 And most of my other teammates were awesome. 330 00:16:03,545 --> 00:16:04,755 And there it is. 331 00:16:04,838 --> 00:16:07,633 The junior from Ohio State is the champion. 332 00:16:07,716 --> 00:16:09,593 Did Dr. Strauss make me angry? 333 00:16:09,677 --> 00:16:12,221 Yes. But I was under the impression 334 00:16:12,304 --> 00:16:15,057 that anger helped me do better 335 00:16:15,140 --> 00:16:17,267 and get things accomplished. 336 00:16:17,351 --> 00:16:19,728 I felt like the anger was just needed. 337 00:16:20,521 --> 00:16:23,399 Like others, when I stepped onto the mat, 338 00:16:23,482 --> 00:16:26,276 I was there. I was there. 339 00:16:27,653 --> 00:16:29,488 Worries about grades, 340 00:16:29,571 --> 00:16:31,365 worries about girls, 341 00:16:31,448 --> 00:16:32,950 worries about Dr. Strauss, 342 00:16:33,033 --> 00:16:36,453 or worries about anything went away. 343 00:16:37,037 --> 00:16:38,330 Ritchie, 344 00:16:38,414 --> 00:16:40,499 21-9-2. 345 00:16:40,582 --> 00:16:43,168 Quite a record for a freshman. 346 00:16:43,252 --> 00:16:44,795 I was able to compartmentalize it, 347 00:16:44,878 --> 00:16:48,507 put it in a place where I didn't have to think about it. 348 00:16:49,383 --> 00:16:53,137 And that worked for a while. 349 00:16:53,887 --> 00:16:55,723 But it just got worse. 350 00:16:57,391 --> 00:16:59,393 Dr. Strauss was our team doctor, 351 00:16:59,476 --> 00:17:02,271 and that's what we had. I mean, if we had an illness, 352 00:17:02,354 --> 00:17:03,814 he's the one we went to. 353 00:17:03,897 --> 00:17:06,400 If we needed medication for something, 354 00:17:06,483 --> 00:17:07,901 he's the one that we went to. 355 00:17:07,985 --> 00:17:09,111 If we had an injury, 356 00:17:09,194 --> 00:17:10,654 he's the one that we went to. 357 00:17:10,738 --> 00:17:11,947 And each and every time, 358 00:17:12,031 --> 00:17:14,074 it was a full body check 359 00:17:14,199 --> 00:17:15,909 that resulted in 360 00:17:15,993 --> 00:17:18,912 a genital check, without fail. 361 00:17:22,041 --> 00:17:25,794 And the man never wore gloves. 362 00:17:27,004 --> 00:17:28,964 It was always skin on skin. 363 00:17:29,506 --> 00:17:33,135 With one hand, he would, like, grab your testicles, 364 00:17:33,177 --> 00:17:36,263 and the best way to describe it is like those... 365 00:17:36,346 --> 00:17:38,974 Chinese balls that you twist for stress, 366 00:17:39,058 --> 00:17:41,769 and he's asking me how I'm doing on campus 367 00:17:41,852 --> 00:17:43,520 at the same time, you know. 368 00:17:44,605 --> 00:17:48,817 If I have a girlfriend, if I'm sexually active. 369 00:17:48,901 --> 00:17:51,862 And it wasn't just he would be like this. 370 00:17:51,945 --> 00:17:54,740 His face would be in, 371 00:17:54,823 --> 00:17:56,408 where you could feel his breath 372 00:17:57,576 --> 00:17:59,203 on your dick. 373 00:18:01,371 --> 00:18:03,832 I felt like there was something wrong, 374 00:18:03,916 --> 00:18:05,709 but I was a naive kid going into college. 375 00:18:05,793 --> 00:18:08,378 And wrestling in college is not easy. 376 00:18:09,004 --> 00:18:12,341 We're taught to deal with the hard stuff. 377 00:18:13,008 --> 00:18:15,886 And so I-- I mean, I never complained. 378 00:18:16,470 --> 00:18:19,181 But, I mean, I was always in there. 379 00:18:19,264 --> 00:18:21,433 My-my-my file, by the time I was done, 380 00:18:21,517 --> 00:18:24,394 was a couple of inches thick. Hundreds of times, easily. 381 00:18:24,478 --> 00:18:26,980 I mean, every time I wrestled, I was injured. 382 00:18:28,023 --> 00:18:30,109 Wrestling is a brutal sport. 383 00:18:32,486 --> 00:18:35,197 It's basically a street fight with rules. 384 00:18:37,699 --> 00:18:39,409 You get bruised and banged up a lot. 385 00:18:43,413 --> 00:18:45,749 I-I remember I had a high ankle sprain, 386 00:18:45,874 --> 00:18:50,379 and Doc Strauss would hold up the X-rays and look at 'em, 387 00:18:50,462 --> 00:18:52,631 and then after that, he would ask me to stand up, 388 00:18:52,714 --> 00:18:53,715 disrobe. 389 00:18:55,592 --> 00:18:57,094 He would grab the stool, 390 00:18:57,177 --> 00:18:58,637 go up to me, 391 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:00,347 and perform the same genital exam, 392 00:19:00,430 --> 00:19:03,308 telling me, "We gotta make sure you're healing right," 393 00:19:03,392 --> 00:19:04,977 and, you know... 394 00:19:05,060 --> 00:19:07,020 "that your lymph nodes are not enlarged." 395 00:19:07,104 --> 00:19:09,148 He always said, "It's like you have a thoroughbred horse. 396 00:19:09,231 --> 00:19:11,567 We gotta keep you running, and the only way I can do that 397 00:19:11,650 --> 00:19:13,152 is to do these thorough exams." 398 00:19:14,278 --> 00:19:17,489 But I've never looked at myself like a victim. 399 00:19:17,573 --> 00:19:20,534 I mean, I come from the athlete's mentality where, 400 00:19:20,617 --> 00:19:22,619 if it's bad, you problem-solve and you fix it. 401 00:19:23,662 --> 00:19:26,373 And the way I think we kind of fixed it 402 00:19:26,456 --> 00:19:29,084 as athletes, you kinda made light of it, 403 00:19:29,168 --> 00:19:32,379 and it was out in the open like that, making light of it. 404 00:19:33,463 --> 00:19:35,507 Guys would joke all the time, like, 405 00:19:35,591 --> 00:19:37,801 "Hey, I need to go see the doc," 406 00:19:37,885 --> 00:19:39,052 and if there was a group of us, 407 00:19:39,136 --> 00:19:40,846 they'd say, "Hey, watch your nuts." 408 00:19:40,929 --> 00:19:42,639 We had nicknames for him. 409 00:19:42,723 --> 00:19:46,435 Strauss was Dr. Jelly Paws or Jelly Fingers. 410 00:19:46,518 --> 00:19:49,062 I heard someone else call him Dr. Fun Boy once. 411 00:19:49,146 --> 00:19:51,523 But it just got more direct, like, 412 00:19:51,607 --> 00:19:53,859 "This dude, man, what is up with this dude?" 413 00:19:55,152 --> 00:19:56,778 It was a dirty little secret 414 00:19:56,862 --> 00:20:00,032 that we all just tiptoed around, 415 00:20:00,115 --> 00:20:01,241 and we just dealt with it 416 00:20:01,867 --> 00:20:03,368 'cause we're Buckeyes. 417 00:20:05,954 --> 00:20:09,124 You would be hard-pressed to find a more macho culture 418 00:20:09,208 --> 00:20:12,294 than Midwest athletes and wrestlers. 419 00:20:12,419 --> 00:20:15,881 I mean, there is so much macho dimension to this story. 420 00:20:16,965 --> 00:20:19,509 I've written several features for Sports Illustrated 421 00:20:19,593 --> 00:20:21,303 on The Ohio State University. 422 00:20:22,971 --> 00:20:25,641 Buckeye Nation is a real identity 423 00:20:25,724 --> 00:20:27,267 for millions of people. 424 00:20:28,477 --> 00:20:31,855 And the core of that identity is about being Midwest tough. 425 00:20:33,857 --> 00:20:37,110 For men, that means emulating the archetype of the warrior. 426 00:20:37,194 --> 00:20:39,738 It's about you being indestructible and dominant, 427 00:20:39,863 --> 00:20:42,783 and if you're a male athlete, so much more so. 428 00:20:43,367 --> 00:20:46,578 And anything less than that is rejected with anger. 429 00:20:46,662 --> 00:20:48,622 I see people whining and bitching. 430 00:20:48,747 --> 00:20:52,709 I see this wimpy little look on a lot of people's faces 431 00:20:52,834 --> 00:20:55,963 'cause somebody else took something away from them. 432 00:20:56,046 --> 00:20:58,173 Fellas, this is a tough sport. 433 00:20:58,257 --> 00:21:00,676 This is a tough sport! 434 00:21:00,759 --> 00:21:02,552 If you don't want to be a part of it, 435 00:21:02,636 --> 00:21:04,221 then get the hell out of it! 436 00:21:05,430 --> 00:21:08,517 So view the situation with Strauss through that lens. 437 00:21:10,686 --> 00:21:14,106 But what happened? Somebody physically dominated you. 438 00:21:14,189 --> 00:21:15,816 Well, if you're wrestling and someone 439 00:21:15,899 --> 00:21:17,776 physically dominates you, you lose. 440 00:21:18,819 --> 00:21:21,029 And now, what if he's half your weight? 441 00:21:21,113 --> 00:21:24,283 In sports terms, it's a mismatch, right? 442 00:21:24,366 --> 00:21:25,826 In this kind of world, 443 00:21:25,909 --> 00:21:27,661 what kind of a man are you then? 444 00:21:28,287 --> 00:21:31,290 And now, what if he's sexually molesting you? 445 00:21:32,791 --> 00:21:35,127 Are you willingly gonna talk about that? 446 00:21:35,794 --> 00:21:37,796 Are you going to admit that? 447 00:21:37,879 --> 00:21:39,131 And if you do, 448 00:21:39,214 --> 00:21:42,050 are those men around you even gonna be receptive 449 00:21:42,134 --> 00:21:43,760 to hearing about it? 450 00:21:45,846 --> 00:21:47,681 My mom said this to me one time. 451 00:21:47,764 --> 00:21:50,142 She asked me if Russ or Jim, 452 00:21:50,225 --> 00:21:53,562 "Did you tell them the stuff that we're finding out now?" 453 00:21:53,645 --> 00:21:55,731 And I'm like, "But telling them 454 00:21:55,814 --> 00:21:57,524 would imply that they didn't know." 455 00:21:58,942 --> 00:22:00,652 Our coaches knew. 456 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:03,655 We had guys complaining about Dr. Strauss 457 00:22:03,739 --> 00:22:05,073 to Jim Jordan. 458 00:22:06,491 --> 00:22:07,993 One of the wrestlers said, 459 00:22:08,577 --> 00:22:11,288 "Dude, why does this guy have to constantly check 460 00:22:11,371 --> 00:22:13,165 our nuts, check our dick?" 461 00:22:13,248 --> 00:22:15,959 Jim Jordan's response: "If he ever did that to me, 462 00:22:16,084 --> 00:22:18,837 I'd snap his neck like a stick of dry balsa wood." 463 00:22:18,879 --> 00:22:20,255 So he knew about it. 464 00:22:20,922 --> 00:22:23,008 And Russ knew. 465 00:22:25,427 --> 00:22:28,430 You know, the extent of what Dr. Strauss 466 00:22:28,513 --> 00:22:31,016 might have been doing during physicals 467 00:22:31,099 --> 00:22:33,226 or doing medical checks with athletes 468 00:22:33,310 --> 00:22:35,103 when they had injuries 469 00:22:35,187 --> 00:22:36,646 appears to be beyond the pale 470 00:22:36,730 --> 00:22:40,150 but was never really told to me. 471 00:22:40,233 --> 00:22:44,863 I just sensed that he was a little bit too invasive, you know? 472 00:22:44,946 --> 00:22:48,075 He was always too hands-on with athletes when we had weigh-ins. 473 00:22:48,158 --> 00:22:50,077 He was always grabbing the guys 474 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:51,953 and turning 'em around, you know, he'd grab 'em 475 00:22:52,037 --> 00:22:54,331 by their midsection and turn 'em. 476 00:22:54,414 --> 00:22:55,916 Then when he was checking for skin, 477 00:22:55,999 --> 00:22:57,626 he'd always be touching it. 478 00:22:58,210 --> 00:23:01,296 I told him one time, I said, "Doc, you're much too hands-on." 479 00:23:01,380 --> 00:23:03,048 He'd just say, "Ah, I'm being thorough." 480 00:23:03,131 --> 00:23:04,925 And I said, "You know, it bothers some athletes. 481 00:23:05,008 --> 00:23:06,927 Some athletes are very, very sensitive 482 00:23:07,010 --> 00:23:09,721 to that sort of thing," and he kinda shrugged it off. 483 00:23:10,597 --> 00:23:12,307 One small talk, 484 00:23:12,391 --> 00:23:14,434 and nothing changed. 485 00:23:16,895 --> 00:23:18,605 Men at that time didn't talk 486 00:23:18,688 --> 00:23:21,108 about their sexuality and their feelings. 487 00:23:21,191 --> 00:23:24,611 And I think the coaches were probably uncomfortable with it 488 00:23:25,570 --> 00:23:27,823 and might have turned a blind eye. 489 00:23:27,906 --> 00:23:30,200 Russ Hellickson is your surrogate father 490 00:23:30,325 --> 00:23:32,285 while you're in Columbus, Ohio. 491 00:23:32,369 --> 00:23:34,121 If he doesn't deem it important enough 492 00:23:34,204 --> 00:23:35,789 to get rid of this guy, 493 00:23:35,872 --> 00:23:37,165 you take your cue from that. 494 00:23:44,923 --> 00:23:47,426 There's some guys that were able to achieve like that. 495 00:23:48,844 --> 00:23:51,555 I was not one of those guys achieving in that environment. 496 00:23:51,638 --> 00:23:55,350 And it was some problems internally for me 497 00:23:55,434 --> 00:23:57,144 that I wasn't able to do the things 498 00:23:57,227 --> 00:23:59,688 that I knew I could do athletically. 499 00:24:00,355 --> 00:24:03,275 So, for me, there was a lot of shame 500 00:24:03,358 --> 00:24:05,735 for not being tough enough to take it. 501 00:24:10,740 --> 00:24:13,660 You know, after people hear these stories, 502 00:24:13,743 --> 00:24:15,954 there's a lot of guys that talked to us about, 503 00:24:16,037 --> 00:24:17,581 "Oh, I would've beat him up," 504 00:24:17,706 --> 00:24:19,833 or, "I would've done this, I would've done that." 505 00:24:19,916 --> 00:24:21,751 "What do you mean, he touched you? 506 00:24:21,877 --> 00:24:23,503 Why didn't you just whup his ass?" 507 00:24:24,337 --> 00:24:26,006 The way Strauss did it, 508 00:24:26,089 --> 00:24:28,383 this man never had a nurse 509 00:24:28,467 --> 00:24:30,218 or another trainer in that office 510 00:24:30,302 --> 00:24:32,846 when we were in there one-on-one. Never. 511 00:24:32,929 --> 00:24:36,725 So it was always his word against your word. 512 00:24:37,601 --> 00:24:41,021 And, yeah, I could've smacked him upside the head, 513 00:24:41,104 --> 00:24:42,355 and then what would've happened? 514 00:24:44,191 --> 00:24:45,650 Imagine I'm walking out 515 00:24:45,734 --> 00:24:47,903 and then this old white man is knocked out in there, 516 00:24:48,528 --> 00:24:50,030 and this guy has been, mind you, 517 00:24:50,113 --> 00:24:53,325 been around this university since 1979. 518 00:24:54,826 --> 00:24:56,203 So what am I gonna do? 519 00:24:56,953 --> 00:24:59,456 What they're gonna do is kick me out of school. 520 00:24:59,539 --> 00:25:02,459 He'd have his job and he'd still be doing what he's doing 521 00:25:02,584 --> 00:25:04,628 and I'd be out of my scholarship. 522 00:25:05,212 --> 00:25:08,590 We had so much to lose. 523 00:25:09,174 --> 00:25:10,550 I wasn't rich. 524 00:25:10,634 --> 00:25:12,260 I wasn't blessed with a ton of money. 525 00:25:12,344 --> 00:25:15,138 So the-the scholarship was critical. 526 00:25:16,306 --> 00:25:17,891 We were powerless, 527 00:25:17,974 --> 00:25:19,601 and all's I knew 528 00:25:19,684 --> 00:25:21,645 is that I wanted to be a national champion, 529 00:25:21,728 --> 00:25:24,314 and I wasn't gonna stir the fucking pot 530 00:25:24,397 --> 00:25:28,318 with The big-time Ohio State University. 531 00:25:29,236 --> 00:25:30,987 And, quite honestly, 532 00:25:31,071 --> 00:25:32,989 what he's actually doing to me, 533 00:25:33,823 --> 00:25:35,325 I didn't-- I didn't even think it-- 534 00:25:35,408 --> 00:25:37,953 Maybe it wasn't even wrong. I didn't know. 535 00:25:40,330 --> 00:25:43,041 This is a credentialed doctor. 536 00:25:43,124 --> 00:25:45,710 He's got the Harvard diploma. He's been at Chicago, 537 00:25:45,794 --> 00:25:48,213 University of Pennsylvania. He's been in the military. 538 00:25:48,296 --> 00:25:50,674 He's publishing these scholarly articles. 539 00:25:50,757 --> 00:25:54,511 Whatever you say, he's got a quick riposte ready. 540 00:25:54,594 --> 00:25:57,055 And you're an 18- or 19-year-old naive kid. 541 00:25:57,889 --> 00:25:59,266 But more than that, 542 00:25:59,349 --> 00:26:01,851 he was in such a position of power 543 00:26:01,935 --> 00:26:04,229 because if he didn't approve their physical, 544 00:26:04,312 --> 00:26:06,314 if they didn't go through his exam, 545 00:26:06,398 --> 00:26:08,525 they did not compete. 546 00:26:10,235 --> 00:26:12,279 He had all the power. 547 00:26:12,362 --> 00:26:13,655 All the power. 548 00:26:15,615 --> 00:26:17,242 And they did nothing. 549 00:26:20,829 --> 00:26:23,498 So Doc Strauss, he got more emboldened. 550 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:26,418 You know, we would come down from the wrestling room, 551 00:26:26,501 --> 00:26:28,878 and most of us were worrying about making weight, 552 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:30,422 so we'd come down, 553 00:26:30,505 --> 00:26:33,008 sit in the sauna for 20, 25 minutes. 554 00:26:33,633 --> 00:26:35,760 And, sure enough, there's Dr. Strauss 555 00:26:35,844 --> 00:26:37,012 sitting in there with us. 556 00:26:38,013 --> 00:26:40,849 Next thing you know, he'd go right into the showers with everybody. 557 00:26:42,475 --> 00:26:45,020 And Strauss would be facing out. 558 00:26:45,103 --> 00:26:47,147 You know, if, like, this microphone, 559 00:26:47,230 --> 00:26:48,898 when you shower, this is the shower head, 560 00:26:48,982 --> 00:26:50,150 you shower like this. 561 00:26:51,151 --> 00:26:53,903 He would shower like this, facing... 562 00:26:55,030 --> 00:26:57,657 He'd be shower-facing, so he'd be looking at us. 563 00:27:02,037 --> 00:27:04,080 And he'd be the first one in, last one out. 564 00:27:06,124 --> 00:27:08,084 Then, he'd come out, 565 00:27:08,168 --> 00:27:10,629 he'd see another group of guys coming down, 566 00:27:10,670 --> 00:27:13,089 and it's like, "Oh, I forgot to clean this. 567 00:27:13,173 --> 00:27:15,175 I need to go back into the shower." 568 00:27:15,258 --> 00:27:17,010 And he'd go right back into the shower. 569 00:27:20,805 --> 00:27:23,600 Russ even allowed him to have a locker 570 00:27:23,683 --> 00:27:25,018 in our locker room. 571 00:27:26,311 --> 00:27:28,980 So Strauss was in there all the time, 572 00:27:29,064 --> 00:27:30,523 watching all the guys 573 00:27:31,107 --> 00:27:33,401 getting undressed, drying off, getting dressed. 574 00:27:34,569 --> 00:27:36,696 He didn't do anything. He didn't go out running. 575 00:27:36,780 --> 00:27:38,031 He didn't work out. 576 00:27:38,114 --> 00:27:40,325 And he's taking showers 577 00:27:40,408 --> 00:27:42,118 multiple times a day 578 00:27:42,243 --> 00:27:43,787 with male athletes. 579 00:27:45,497 --> 00:27:47,040 It was that blatant. 580 00:27:47,123 --> 00:27:49,668 He was getting aroused while he's watching everybody. 581 00:27:49,751 --> 00:27:51,586 It was-- It-- It was-- 582 00:27:52,379 --> 00:27:53,838 I mean... 583 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:56,007 It's not something I really want to... 584 00:27:57,801 --> 00:27:59,803 remember or pull up. I mean, I didn't... 585 00:27:59,886 --> 00:28:01,930 Storing stuff like that is not... 586 00:28:06,685 --> 00:28:08,937 I said, "Doc, you make the guys nervous 587 00:28:09,020 --> 00:28:11,064 that you shower with 'em," and his response was, 588 00:28:11,147 --> 00:28:13,233 "Coach, you shower with your guys all the time." 589 00:28:13,316 --> 00:28:14,776 I said, "Yeah, not for an hour, Doc." 590 00:28:15,318 --> 00:28:17,112 It was obvious, you know, 591 00:28:17,195 --> 00:28:20,573 Doc-- Dr. Strauss liked to be in the shower room a lot 592 00:28:20,657 --> 00:28:22,033 with the athletes, 593 00:28:22,117 --> 00:28:24,411 so he was doing a lot of showering. 594 00:28:28,164 --> 00:28:30,542 And we are set for action here. 595 00:28:32,085 --> 00:28:34,254 Our referee today is Fred Feeney. 596 00:28:34,337 --> 00:28:36,047 Fred Feeney is one of the top officials 597 00:28:36,131 --> 00:28:37,590 in the state, from the Columbus area. 598 00:28:37,674 --> 00:28:39,175 He's been around for a long time. 599 00:28:42,220 --> 00:28:44,013 Wow, what a match! 600 00:28:44,097 --> 00:28:45,890 One time, I'm doing this match, 601 00:28:45,974 --> 00:28:48,476 and once the match is over, you sign the book and leave. 602 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,396 You don't hang around. You don't high-five people. 603 00:28:51,479 --> 00:28:53,440 You get the hell outta there, nothing good's gonna happen 604 00:28:53,523 --> 00:28:55,400 'cause somebody's pissed off about something. 605 00:28:55,483 --> 00:28:56,568 Just get the hell out. 606 00:28:56,651 --> 00:28:58,361 And I walked in, 607 00:28:58,445 --> 00:29:00,697 and, you know, you get undressed 608 00:29:00,780 --> 00:29:02,282 and you go take a shower and you leave. 609 00:29:02,365 --> 00:29:03,533 It's that simple. 610 00:29:03,616 --> 00:29:04,951 And as I was in there, 611 00:29:05,034 --> 00:29:06,411 Dr. Strauss walks in. 612 00:29:06,494 --> 00:29:08,037 And I knew Dr. Strauss 613 00:29:08,121 --> 00:29:10,498 from just being around Ohio State University. 614 00:29:10,623 --> 00:29:12,208 I've known him for years. 615 00:29:12,292 --> 00:29:14,377 And, "Hey, Dr. Strauss. How are you?" 616 00:29:14,502 --> 00:29:16,087 He goes, "Good, Fred. Nice match." 617 00:29:16,171 --> 00:29:17,672 And that-that small talk. 618 00:29:17,756 --> 00:29:21,009 And he starts getting undressed right beside me. 619 00:29:21,092 --> 00:29:23,595 And yet there's all this room over here 620 00:29:23,678 --> 00:29:26,598 that he could've went to to get undressed. 621 00:29:27,891 --> 00:29:30,393 And I just kinda looked, "Doc, what are you doing?" 622 00:29:30,477 --> 00:29:32,729 He goes, "Well, there's somewhere I want to be tonight, 623 00:29:32,812 --> 00:29:34,981 need to be, and so I'm gonna take a shower." 624 00:29:35,064 --> 00:29:36,483 Okay. You know? 625 00:29:36,566 --> 00:29:38,526 So I finished getting undressed, 626 00:29:38,610 --> 00:29:41,571 I put a towel around me, and I went into the shower. 627 00:29:43,198 --> 00:29:45,450 And then, within a very short period of time, 628 00:29:45,533 --> 00:29:47,494 Dr. Strauss walks in the shower. 629 00:29:47,577 --> 00:29:50,997 He could've went anywhere, but he stood right beside me. 630 00:29:51,122 --> 00:29:52,999 The shower, I'm here, he's here. 631 00:29:55,668 --> 00:29:57,003 Okay. You know? 632 00:29:57,045 --> 00:30:00,173 And the next thing I know, 633 00:30:00,256 --> 00:30:01,841 I look over and I realize 634 00:30:01,925 --> 00:30:03,760 he's not washing himself. 635 00:30:03,843 --> 00:30:05,386 He's masturbating. 636 00:30:05,470 --> 00:30:07,514 He's beside me masturbating. 637 00:30:08,890 --> 00:30:10,892 And I'm thinking, "What the hell are you doing?" 638 00:30:10,975 --> 00:30:13,019 He goes, "Well, Fred, I'm just washing." 639 00:30:13,812 --> 00:30:16,648 Well, that's kind of a weird-ass way to do it, you know? 640 00:30:18,316 --> 00:30:20,902 And I remember, I kinda turned a little bit, 641 00:30:20,985 --> 00:30:22,862 and the next thing I know, 642 00:30:22,946 --> 00:30:25,949 I'm feeling his hand on my butt. 643 00:30:26,032 --> 00:30:27,116 And... 644 00:30:39,379 --> 00:30:42,048 A-And I can't explain to you 645 00:30:43,132 --> 00:30:45,051 why that affected me the way it affected-- 646 00:30:45,134 --> 00:30:47,262 It affected me so bad 647 00:30:47,345 --> 00:30:50,014 that I didn't even respond to him, 648 00:30:50,098 --> 00:30:52,183 where I should've knocked him on his ass 649 00:30:52,267 --> 00:30:54,435 at that point, at that time. 650 00:30:59,816 --> 00:31:00,984 But I didn't. 651 00:31:01,067 --> 00:31:02,652 I walked out. 652 00:31:02,735 --> 00:31:05,113 And I went back to my locker, 653 00:31:05,196 --> 00:31:07,657 and I started to get dressed. 654 00:31:07,740 --> 00:31:09,409 Strauss walks out, 655 00:31:09,492 --> 00:31:11,160 and he has a towel around him, 656 00:31:11,244 --> 00:31:15,123 he has an obvious erection right there, and I just, 657 00:31:15,206 --> 00:31:17,208 "What are you doing? What the hell were you doing?" 658 00:31:17,292 --> 00:31:18,543 He goes, "There's nothing wrong. 659 00:31:18,626 --> 00:31:20,295 You got a beautiful butt." 660 00:31:20,378 --> 00:31:22,338 He goes, "You got a great penis. You got--" 661 00:31:22,422 --> 00:31:25,216 He goes, "You should be proud of that," and, again, 662 00:31:25,300 --> 00:31:29,512 I was so overcome with how asinine this was, 663 00:31:30,388 --> 00:31:32,640 I got dressed, didn't say a word to him. 664 00:31:33,892 --> 00:31:35,310 As I'm walking out, 665 00:31:35,393 --> 00:31:37,145 at the very end of that walkway, 666 00:31:37,228 --> 00:31:40,106 Russ Hellickson and Jim Jordan were both standing there, 667 00:31:40,189 --> 00:31:41,733 and I looked at both of them, I said, 668 00:31:41,816 --> 00:31:43,401 "Hey, Strauss is in there masturbating 669 00:31:43,484 --> 00:31:45,028 beside me in the shower." 670 00:31:45,111 --> 00:31:46,738 And both of them looked at me, 671 00:31:46,821 --> 00:31:50,241 Jim Jordan looked at me straight in my face and said, 672 00:31:50,325 --> 00:31:51,743 "It's Strauss. 673 00:31:51,826 --> 00:31:53,202 You know what he does." 674 00:31:54,370 --> 00:31:56,205 And Russ agreed. 675 00:31:57,749 --> 00:31:59,834 I-I think, as I walked out, 676 00:31:59,959 --> 00:32:02,211 I-I started to take that 677 00:32:02,295 --> 00:32:04,172 and just started pushing it down 678 00:32:04,255 --> 00:32:06,841 and down and down and down and down. 679 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:09,719 It was just something I couldn't deal with, 680 00:32:09,802 --> 00:32:10,929 and I didn't deal with it. 681 00:32:12,221 --> 00:32:14,015 And what you'll come to learn 682 00:32:14,098 --> 00:32:17,185 is that this isn't just happening with the wrestlers. 683 00:32:18,019 --> 00:32:19,938 The male gymnasts, 684 00:32:20,021 --> 00:32:22,565 their facility was in Larkins Hall, 685 00:32:22,649 --> 00:32:25,151 which is where our wrestling room was. 686 00:32:25,234 --> 00:32:27,487 He had a locker in their locker room. 687 00:32:28,154 --> 00:32:29,906 He had a locker in the fencing room. 688 00:32:29,989 --> 00:32:32,033 He had a locker in the football room. 689 00:32:32,158 --> 00:32:33,660 I heard he had a locker 690 00:32:33,743 --> 00:32:35,453 somewhere where the swim team was. 691 00:32:36,204 --> 00:32:39,874 Fifteen, sixteen sports, I mean, that-that's insane. 692 00:32:40,792 --> 00:32:42,251 He's everywhere. 693 00:32:51,219 --> 00:32:54,305 Hockey was just, you're Canadian, 694 00:32:54,389 --> 00:32:56,224 and you just want to be a hockey player. 695 00:32:56,849 --> 00:32:58,768 That was the goal. That was the dream. 696 00:33:02,647 --> 00:33:04,857 I'd go to the rink, you know, early in the morning. 697 00:33:04,941 --> 00:33:06,526 I-I was-- They called me a rink rat. 698 00:33:06,609 --> 00:33:08,695 And I just loved the game. 699 00:33:10,488 --> 00:33:12,657 And I was fortunate enough in 1985 700 00:33:12,740 --> 00:33:15,576 to win a national championship in junior. 701 00:33:15,702 --> 00:33:17,829 I was recruited by a lot of schools. 702 00:33:17,912 --> 00:33:19,288 I was recruited by North Dakota, 703 00:33:19,372 --> 00:33:20,873 which was an absolute powerhouse. 704 00:33:21,457 --> 00:33:23,751 But Ohio State was a better fit for me. 705 00:33:23,835 --> 00:33:26,337 I had the opportunity to come in and start right away. 706 00:33:27,005 --> 00:33:28,840 My goal was to... 707 00:33:29,882 --> 00:33:31,801 get to Ohio State, develop for four years, 708 00:33:31,884 --> 00:33:33,386 and step in to play pro hockey. 709 00:33:34,012 --> 00:33:35,888 Ohio State offering me a full scholarship 710 00:33:35,972 --> 00:33:37,807 was pretty incredible. 711 00:33:38,474 --> 00:33:41,060 Everything that I had hoped for to happen, 712 00:33:41,144 --> 00:33:43,062 to that point, had happened. 713 00:33:43,146 --> 00:33:44,397 So I was very excited. 714 00:33:51,821 --> 00:33:55,033 My first encounter with Dr. Strauss was 715 00:33:55,116 --> 00:33:57,577 ten days after I landed here at Ohio State. 716 00:34:00,413 --> 00:34:03,791 We went to the hall, and we had medicals done. 717 00:34:06,794 --> 00:34:09,005 He was kind and he was nice 718 00:34:09,088 --> 00:34:10,465 and he, "Where are you from? 719 00:34:10,548 --> 00:34:11,758 Welcome to Ohio State." 720 00:34:15,636 --> 00:34:17,764 And he said, "Have you ever had a physical before?" 721 00:34:17,847 --> 00:34:21,225 And I said, "Not that I can remember." 722 00:34:22,310 --> 00:34:24,103 "Have you ever been checked for a hernia before?" 723 00:34:24,187 --> 00:34:25,605 And I said, "Nope." 724 00:34:27,607 --> 00:34:29,734 You know, and he said, "Can you drop your shorts?" 725 00:34:32,070 --> 00:34:35,031 And I didn't know what a hernia check was. 726 00:34:35,114 --> 00:34:36,783 I didn't know... I didn't know. 727 00:34:36,908 --> 00:34:38,284 I didn't know what I didn't know. 728 00:34:42,371 --> 00:34:43,915 I remember leaving 729 00:34:43,998 --> 00:34:45,750 and going, "Wow, that was... 730 00:34:45,833 --> 00:34:47,085 That was very odd." 731 00:34:48,711 --> 00:34:51,214 I sort of-- I dis-- sort of disassociated myself. 732 00:34:51,297 --> 00:34:53,591 And then, whoever said, "Oh, you know, 733 00:34:53,674 --> 00:34:55,259 you must have a big... 734 00:34:56,177 --> 00:34:58,679 penis," in-in other terms, 735 00:34:58,763 --> 00:35:01,057 "'cause you were in there for quite a while. Attaboy. 736 00:35:01,140 --> 00:35:02,850 Oh, you know, good for you." 737 00:35:02,934 --> 00:35:06,562 And you're like, "Oh, okay. I'm not sure what that means, but... 738 00:35:07,563 --> 00:35:09,023 okay..." 739 00:35:10,149 --> 00:35:11,818 And I left. 740 00:35:13,152 --> 00:35:15,655 I should've asked somebody, "Is that normal? 741 00:35:15,738 --> 00:35:17,949 You know, why does all that have to happen?" 742 00:35:19,117 --> 00:35:21,577 But I trusted Dr. Strauss 'cause he was the team doctor 743 00:35:21,661 --> 00:35:23,079 and it's his job. 744 00:35:23,162 --> 00:35:24,539 That's what they've hired him to do. 745 00:35:24,622 --> 00:35:26,165 And, you know, you're so excited 746 00:35:26,249 --> 00:35:28,084 to be at The Ohio State University 747 00:35:28,167 --> 00:35:29,585 playing the sport that you love. 748 00:35:30,253 --> 00:35:32,672 This is it. You're where you want to be. 749 00:35:34,715 --> 00:35:37,510 So, yeah, I saw him a few times, and every time, 750 00:35:38,511 --> 00:35:39,804 he would check you for a hernia. 751 00:35:41,556 --> 00:35:44,433 Once, I got a slap shot off my foot. 752 00:35:44,517 --> 00:35:46,727 First thing he did was, "Drop your trousers." 753 00:35:47,728 --> 00:35:49,230 He'd check me for a hernia. 754 00:35:51,858 --> 00:35:53,234 I'm thinking, "My foot... 755 00:35:54,485 --> 00:35:55,987 My foot's sore. 756 00:35:56,696 --> 00:35:57,947 My foot is sore." 757 00:35:59,615 --> 00:36:01,492 But he was our doctor. 758 00:36:01,576 --> 00:36:04,453 This has to be "normal" because no one has said anything. 759 00:36:08,958 --> 00:36:10,793 But it really affected me. 760 00:36:13,296 --> 00:36:16,090 So I went to see Coach after Christmas 761 00:36:16,174 --> 00:36:17,466 and tried to tell him, 762 00:36:17,550 --> 00:36:19,844 "Something's not right with the doctor. 763 00:36:19,927 --> 00:36:21,429 You know, he's... 764 00:36:21,512 --> 00:36:23,806 He's a little different, and, you know," 765 00:36:23,890 --> 00:36:25,641 and... 766 00:36:27,768 --> 00:36:29,729 He just said to me, "Don't worry about the doctor. 767 00:36:29,812 --> 00:36:31,898 You worry about you-- your playing." 768 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:49,999 My mother was the only female coach 769 00:36:50,124 --> 00:36:52,960 of a men's team at Ohio State University. 770 00:36:53,044 --> 00:36:55,379 She coached women's and men's fencing. 771 00:37:00,551 --> 00:37:04,138 Very soon after my mom took over the men's team, 772 00:37:04,222 --> 00:37:07,141 she started hearing from the male fencers 773 00:37:07,225 --> 00:37:08,851 that there was definitely something off 774 00:37:08,935 --> 00:37:09,977 about Dr. Strauss, 775 00:37:10,728 --> 00:37:13,898 that he would ogle the men who were taking showers, 776 00:37:13,981 --> 00:37:17,944 and he seemed to be around more than seemed normal. 777 00:37:21,864 --> 00:37:25,076 I remember one incident very clearly. 778 00:37:25,159 --> 00:37:28,162 Uh, my boyfriend at the time, it was at the end of practice, 779 00:37:28,246 --> 00:37:30,122 and his ear was bleeding. 780 00:37:30,206 --> 00:37:33,084 My mom's first, "Go down to the trainer's room 781 00:37:33,209 --> 00:37:36,295 and go see if there's anything that they can do for you." 782 00:37:38,756 --> 00:37:40,132 I went down there with him, 783 00:37:40,216 --> 00:37:41,717 and Dr. Strauss was there. 784 00:37:41,801 --> 00:37:43,511 As soon as he saw my boyfriend, 785 00:37:43,594 --> 00:37:45,471 "Sure, come on in! Come on in!" 786 00:37:45,554 --> 00:37:47,723 And then the door was closed. 787 00:37:50,810 --> 00:37:52,812 Immediately after he was seen, 788 00:37:52,895 --> 00:37:54,397 he came right out and said, 789 00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:56,440 "I got in there, showed him my bleeding ear, 790 00:37:56,524 --> 00:37:58,442 and the first thing Dr. Strauss asked for 791 00:37:58,526 --> 00:37:59,777 was to drop my shorts." 792 00:38:01,237 --> 00:38:04,198 He let my mother know that this happened, 793 00:38:04,282 --> 00:38:07,868 and so she went to discuss the situation with her boss. 794 00:38:07,952 --> 00:38:11,956 OFFICES OF THE OSU ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT ST. JOHN’S ARENA 795 00:38:12,039 --> 00:38:14,750 The fencing coach says, "Listen, I have real concerns 796 00:38:14,875 --> 00:38:16,460 about this inappropriate behavior." 797 00:38:17,795 --> 00:38:20,089 It's clear she doesn't know the half of it. 798 00:38:20,172 --> 00:38:21,674 She knows it's inappropriate, though, 799 00:38:21,757 --> 00:38:24,760 for a team doctor to be showering with the athletes. 800 00:38:25,386 --> 00:38:28,556 She knows it's inappropriate for him to be pawing athletes 801 00:38:28,639 --> 00:38:30,391 for having nothing to do with their groin area. 802 00:38:31,058 --> 00:38:33,227 And so she launches her first complaint. 803 00:38:35,229 --> 00:38:37,940 Their take on it was it's hearsay. 804 00:38:38,024 --> 00:38:39,442 You know, "Show me proof. 805 00:38:39,525 --> 00:38:41,485 Till I have proof, I can't do anything." 806 00:38:41,569 --> 00:38:44,947 Her response back to the male athletes was, 807 00:38:45,906 --> 00:38:49,327 "We need proof. We need someone who's willing to come forward. 808 00:38:49,410 --> 00:38:51,495 I'm glad to come and stand with you. 809 00:38:51,579 --> 00:38:53,456 I will support you and talk." 810 00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:58,461 But she did not find any takers. 811 00:38:59,670 --> 00:39:01,881 And so, alone, my mother complained 812 00:39:01,922 --> 00:39:04,592 to the directors about Dr. Strauss. 813 00:39:04,675 --> 00:39:06,469 She would specifically go and meet with them 814 00:39:06,552 --> 00:39:07,803 on a regular basis 815 00:39:07,887 --> 00:39:10,097 because they were her boss. 816 00:39:10,973 --> 00:39:15,603 She complained about Dr. Strauss year after year 817 00:39:16,187 --> 00:39:18,564 because fencers would be there for three, four years, 818 00:39:18,647 --> 00:39:20,107 and then there'd be a new set. 819 00:39:20,191 --> 00:39:22,026 It was not a one-time occurrence. 820 00:39:22,109 --> 00:39:24,236 It was regular and ongoing. 821 00:39:25,905 --> 00:39:27,531 And nothing was done. 822 00:39:31,202 --> 00:39:34,663 Sir, what dates were you Director of Sports Medicine? 823 00:39:34,789 --> 00:39:37,166 -1990 to 2004. - Okay. 824 00:39:38,250 --> 00:39:40,127 And in that role, were you responsible 825 00:39:40,211 --> 00:39:41,504 for supervising employees? 826 00:39:41,587 --> 00:39:42,671 Yes. 827 00:39:43,297 --> 00:39:46,384 And were you ever in charge of supervising Richard Strauss? 828 00:39:46,467 --> 00:39:47,468 Yes. 829 00:39:48,511 --> 00:39:50,054 In 2019, as part of a lawsuit against Ohio State by victims 830 00:39:50,137 --> 00:39:52,473 of Dr. Richard Strauss, attorneys for the plaintiffs conducted depositions 831 00:39:52,556 --> 00:39:54,725 with former school employees. 832 00:39:54,809 --> 00:39:58,646 Dr. John Lombardo supervised Strauss in the Department of Athletics 833 00:39:58,729 --> 00:40:00,689 from 1993 to 1995. 834 00:40:01,273 --> 00:40:03,484 It's your job to keep male student-athletes safe 835 00:40:03,567 --> 00:40:06,070 from being sexually abused by a team physician, right? 836 00:40:06,153 --> 00:40:07,196 Yes. 837 00:40:07,780 --> 00:40:10,074 The fencing coach has sufficient stories 838 00:40:10,157 --> 00:40:12,284 and evidence and she's ready to go to her superiors 839 00:40:12,368 --> 00:40:14,078 and does so, repeatedly, 840 00:40:14,161 --> 00:40:16,414 over the course of different administrations. 841 00:40:16,497 --> 00:40:18,207 All right, I'm gonna show you 842 00:40:18,290 --> 00:40:20,334 a one-page letter from you 843 00:40:20,459 --> 00:40:23,003 dated November 7th, 1994. 844 00:40:23,087 --> 00:40:24,630 And what does the school do? 845 00:40:24,713 --> 00:40:28,134 The same thing that John Lombardo does in 1994. 846 00:40:28,843 --> 00:40:30,553 From the first sentence, it says, 847 00:40:30,636 --> 00:40:32,680 "I have investigated the concerns raised 848 00:40:32,763 --> 00:40:34,807 by the fencing coach, Charlotte Remenyik, 849 00:40:34,890 --> 00:40:37,351 concerning her athletes and the medical care system. 850 00:40:37,435 --> 00:40:39,687 I have spoken with her and her concerns 851 00:40:39,770 --> 00:40:41,897 are based on rumors which have been generated 852 00:40:41,981 --> 00:40:44,108 for ten years with no foundation." 853 00:40:44,191 --> 00:40:46,694 She's effectively clapped back, 854 00:40:46,777 --> 00:40:48,946 "Oh, you're just basing this on hearsay and rumor," 855 00:40:49,029 --> 00:40:51,782 and you want to say, "Well, that's what we've got to go on 856 00:40:51,866 --> 00:40:55,369 because of your, at best, ineptitude." 857 00:40:58,372 --> 00:41:01,417 Have you ever spoken with any fencer on-- at OSU 858 00:41:01,542 --> 00:41:04,128 about alleged misconduct by Dr. Strauss? 859 00:41:05,838 --> 00:41:06,922 No. 860 00:41:08,257 --> 00:41:11,469 It's not like people have phones and they're videotaping this. 861 00:41:11,552 --> 00:41:14,054 It's not as though the school has been remotely responsible 862 00:41:14,138 --> 00:41:17,641 in handling the welter of complaints that came before this. 863 00:41:18,642 --> 00:41:21,395 My mom would detail the stories that she had heard, 864 00:41:21,479 --> 00:41:25,441 and the only response back was, "Give us some kind of proof." 865 00:41:26,025 --> 00:41:27,860 Did anyone at OSU, to your knowledge, 866 00:41:27,943 --> 00:41:30,571 ever reach out to students about Dr. Strauss? 867 00:41:30,654 --> 00:41:31,989 Not that I'm aware of. 868 00:41:33,282 --> 00:41:34,742 Rumor and innuendo? 869 00:41:34,825 --> 00:41:36,744 What else could it possibly be? 870 00:41:36,827 --> 00:41:39,038 Yes, it's rumor and innuendo, and you have failed 871 00:41:39,121 --> 00:41:41,624 to document anything effectively. 872 00:41:42,374 --> 00:41:44,293 Did you ever ask any trainer whether Strauss 873 00:41:44,376 --> 00:41:46,128 had behaved inappropriately with a student? 874 00:41:46,212 --> 00:41:48,255 -Not that I remember. -Did you ever ask a coach 875 00:41:48,339 --> 00:41:50,132 whether Dr. Strauss had behaved inappropriately 876 00:41:50,216 --> 00:41:51,217 with a student? 877 00:41:51,258 --> 00:41:52,885 Not that I remember. 878 00:41:56,639 --> 00:41:58,390 The school leaves him alone. 879 00:41:59,683 --> 00:42:03,103 But finally, it creates enough of a stir that Strauss says, 880 00:42:03,187 --> 00:42:05,481 "Fine, I won't be the doctor for the fencing team." 881 00:42:05,564 --> 00:42:07,399 He's got plenty of other teams. 882 00:42:14,198 --> 00:42:15,658 I truly do not know 883 00:42:15,741 --> 00:42:17,868 that it was her ongoing request, 884 00:42:17,952 --> 00:42:19,328 but I definitely know 885 00:42:19,411 --> 00:42:21,121 that it also took quite a bit of time, 886 00:42:21,205 --> 00:42:23,499 well over a decade, for that to happen. 887 00:42:27,378 --> 00:42:29,797 Charlotte Remenyik was the lone wolf, 888 00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:32,633 the one voice who said, "This cannot go on," 889 00:42:32,716 --> 00:42:36,011 but even after a university coach 890 00:42:36,095 --> 00:42:39,014 came forward and refused to allow him 891 00:42:39,098 --> 00:42:40,975 to see her athletes, 892 00:42:41,058 --> 00:42:44,311 nobody stopped him from doing it to everybody else. 893 00:42:47,106 --> 00:42:49,733 Let's just think about this. The female fencing coach 894 00:42:49,817 --> 00:42:53,279 has these concerns based on what she's hearing, 895 00:42:53,362 --> 00:42:55,197 she's not in the men's locker room, 896 00:42:55,281 --> 00:42:57,408 but she's heard enough that she's sufficiently upset 897 00:42:57,533 --> 00:42:58,909 to take this to her superiors. 898 00:42:59,910 --> 00:43:02,413 How in the world did this continue to go on, 899 00:43:02,496 --> 00:43:04,832 and why did no one say anything? 900 00:43:06,333 --> 00:43:09,461 Maybe it was that the OSU teams were dominating. 901 00:43:09,545 --> 00:43:11,046 What a match! 902 00:43:12,464 --> 00:43:15,217 Randleman wins it for Ohio State. 903 00:43:15,301 --> 00:43:16,719 Rex Holman. 904 00:43:19,597 --> 00:43:22,641 And no one wanted to befoul that with a scandal. 905 00:43:25,436 --> 00:43:26,937 But not all the teams 906 00:43:27,021 --> 00:43:29,440 during those two decades were good, 907 00:43:29,523 --> 00:43:31,567 and still there was silence. 908 00:43:31,650 --> 00:43:33,027 And then something clicked. 909 00:43:34,612 --> 00:43:36,155 Richard Strauss, 910 00:43:36,238 --> 00:43:38,574 apart from being this team doctor, 911 00:43:39,992 --> 00:43:42,870 was an absolute pioneer in steroids. 912 00:43:46,665 --> 00:43:48,417 He published article after article 913 00:43:48,500 --> 00:43:50,461 about anabolic steroids. 914 00:43:52,838 --> 00:43:55,924 1980s, when we're just learning about this intersection 915 00:43:56,008 --> 00:43:57,635 between steroids and athletic performance 916 00:43:57,718 --> 00:44:00,929 and performance-enhancing drugs and what they can do, 917 00:44:01,013 --> 00:44:03,140 Richard Strauss is at the forefront. 918 00:44:03,223 --> 00:44:05,684 One pro football player said competing against athletes 919 00:44:05,768 --> 00:44:07,603 who took steroids was like giving them 920 00:44:07,686 --> 00:44:09,480 a three-yard head start 921 00:44:09,563 --> 00:44:11,273 in the 100-yard dash. 922 00:44:11,357 --> 00:44:14,276 It is a powerful incentive to play Russian roulette 923 00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:17,446 with a very powerful and potentially dangerous drug. 924 00:44:17,529 --> 00:44:19,490 We're going to talk with a sports physician 925 00:44:19,573 --> 00:44:21,992 who has done research on steroids. 926 00:44:22,076 --> 00:44:23,786 The question of anabolic steroids 927 00:44:23,869 --> 00:44:26,205 hasn't been very important to the general population 928 00:44:26,288 --> 00:44:28,957 because most people have not known much about 'em. 929 00:44:29,041 --> 00:44:31,794 Multiple sources told me 930 00:44:31,919 --> 00:44:34,338 they got steroids from Dr. Strauss, 931 00:44:34,380 --> 00:44:38,050 and multiple sources told me he was distributing steroids. 932 00:44:38,133 --> 00:44:40,761 I talked to one former trainer. 933 00:44:40,844 --> 00:44:43,347 One of his jobs was distributing 934 00:44:43,430 --> 00:44:45,641 the steroids to the athlete. 935 00:44:45,724 --> 00:44:48,018 That was when people were starting to figure out 936 00:44:48,102 --> 00:44:50,688 how you were gonna be able to game the system. 937 00:44:50,771 --> 00:44:53,148 And Strauss was viewed as the expert. 938 00:44:53,816 --> 00:44:56,443 It was a small office that served as an exam room, 939 00:44:56,527 --> 00:44:58,195 and then he had a medical cabinet 940 00:44:58,278 --> 00:44:59,780 that he had there that was locked. 941 00:44:59,863 --> 00:45:01,615 It was-- Only he had a key to it. 942 00:45:01,699 --> 00:45:03,450 Anabolic steroids were in there. 943 00:45:05,577 --> 00:45:10,165 Strauss knew about the testing and all that stuff. 944 00:45:13,127 --> 00:45:14,795 They brought us in, 945 00:45:14,878 --> 00:45:17,756 like, to do B12 shots, they said. 946 00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:19,883 I mean, I'd done B12 shots before, 947 00:45:19,967 --> 00:45:22,386 but this was different. 948 00:45:22,469 --> 00:45:25,472 It was right before, like, Big Tens and nationals. 949 00:45:25,556 --> 00:45:28,308 I remember they gave us a pretty big shot. 950 00:45:28,392 --> 00:45:31,019 They said it was B12, but I don't think it was B12. 951 00:45:31,103 --> 00:45:33,647 I thought it might've been some testosterone. 952 00:45:33,731 --> 00:45:35,524 Did it make you feel any different? 953 00:45:35,607 --> 00:45:36,734 I felt good. 954 00:45:37,443 --> 00:45:38,902 I felt real good. 955 00:45:40,654 --> 00:45:44,533 I just felt energy and just recovery was quicker. 956 00:45:46,034 --> 00:45:48,704 I don't think B12 does that for you. 957 00:45:55,627 --> 00:45:57,504 There was this container we had that said, 958 00:45:57,546 --> 00:45:59,381 "For animal use only." 959 00:45:59,465 --> 00:46:01,759 And we used to call it the animal juice. 960 00:46:02,342 --> 00:46:04,178 Did it come from Dr. Strauss? 961 00:46:04,261 --> 00:46:05,304 Yeah. 962 00:46:05,387 --> 00:46:07,222 And I don't know. 963 00:46:07,306 --> 00:46:10,058 It seemed that a lot of people were getting big at Ohio State 964 00:46:10,142 --> 00:46:11,602 in the late '80s and early '90s. 965 00:46:15,898 --> 00:46:17,816 As if the decks weren't stacked enough 966 00:46:17,900 --> 00:46:20,319 in his side, this gives Richard Strauss another piece 967 00:46:20,402 --> 00:46:22,279 of potentially compromising information. 968 00:46:22,362 --> 00:46:24,364 If he were to say, 969 00:46:24,448 --> 00:46:26,283 "Oh, that guy's just blowing the whistle on me 970 00:46:26,366 --> 00:46:28,160 because I was giving him steroids," 971 00:46:28,243 --> 00:46:30,996 that's enough to get your scholarship taken away. 972 00:46:31,079 --> 00:46:33,624 And obviously, think about it, if you're the coach 973 00:46:33,749 --> 00:46:36,418 and you know that the doctor is distributing steroids 974 00:46:36,502 --> 00:46:38,212 to your athletes, 975 00:46:38,295 --> 00:46:40,297 or if you're the athletic director, 976 00:46:41,381 --> 00:46:43,967 wouldn't you be reluctant to turn on that team doctor? 977 00:46:44,051 --> 00:46:46,178 And, come of it what may, and perhaps 978 00:46:46,261 --> 00:46:48,138 the team doctor, uh, plays dirty. 979 00:46:48,222 --> 00:46:50,724 At some level, you wonder who did the calculus of, 980 00:46:50,808 --> 00:46:52,726 "You know what, it's better to be quiet 981 00:46:52,810 --> 00:46:54,686 because if we do the right thing 982 00:46:54,770 --> 00:46:56,897 and we get rid of this guy and this goes public, 983 00:46:56,980 --> 00:46:58,190 it's gonna be a mess." 984 00:47:00,192 --> 00:47:03,487 But I also think this story is more complicated than steroids, 985 00:47:03,570 --> 00:47:06,865 and it's not the sole or main reason people didn't talk about it. 986 00:47:07,407 --> 00:47:09,952 People could not, and I-I use past tense, 987 00:47:10,077 --> 00:47:12,830 I think, to some extent, still cannot wrap 988 00:47:12,955 --> 00:47:15,290 their brains around, how could this have happened? 989 00:47:15,415 --> 00:47:17,251 How could these guys, 990 00:47:17,376 --> 00:47:19,628 18, 19, 20-year-old athletes, 991 00:47:19,711 --> 00:47:23,257 how in the world could they be the victims 992 00:47:23,340 --> 00:47:24,716 of sexual assault? 993 00:47:27,094 --> 00:47:30,264 And so we return to that foundation of shame. 994 00:47:31,890 --> 00:47:33,892 We don't like to look at men 995 00:47:33,976 --> 00:47:36,770 as being victims in this way, 996 00:47:36,854 --> 00:47:39,231 and that has hurt them 997 00:47:39,314 --> 00:47:42,651 not only in the way that what people believe about them, 998 00:47:42,734 --> 00:47:47,114 but in what they believe and believed about themselves. 999 00:47:48,407 --> 00:47:51,451 Richard Strauss used that to his advantage. 1000 00:47:52,828 --> 00:47:55,122 Strauss didn't abuse everyone. 1001 00:47:55,747 --> 00:47:59,501 He had a way of honing in on these young men 1002 00:47:59,585 --> 00:48:03,171 who were mostly from rural communities, 1003 00:48:03,255 --> 00:48:06,091 who probably spent all of their time in high school 1004 00:48:06,174 --> 00:48:07,676 focusing on athletics, 1005 00:48:07,759 --> 00:48:09,845 who were inexperienced sexually, 1006 00:48:10,596 --> 00:48:11,722 and naive. 1007 00:48:13,849 --> 00:48:15,893 A lot of them, first time in their family 1008 00:48:15,976 --> 00:48:17,436 that someone made it to college, 1009 00:48:17,519 --> 00:48:20,439 and they were totally dependent on this athletic scholarship. 1010 00:48:21,064 --> 00:48:24,234 He knew how to hone in on those men, 1011 00:48:24,318 --> 00:48:27,571 and he would groom them for more. 1012 00:48:29,823 --> 00:48:32,367 He was always being nice to you, 1013 00:48:32,492 --> 00:48:33,827 being complimentary. 1014 00:48:33,911 --> 00:48:35,537 He was totally manipulating you. 1015 00:48:36,121 --> 00:48:40,042 But you had no concept that that's what's going on. 1016 00:48:40,667 --> 00:48:43,879 At the time, when you're 18, 19, 20 years old, 1017 00:48:43,962 --> 00:48:46,340 you don't, you've never heard of... 1018 00:48:46,423 --> 00:48:48,592 of predators. 1019 00:48:48,675 --> 00:48:51,428 You never heard of grooming. 1020 00:48:51,511 --> 00:48:53,805 Especially the term "grooming." I don't-- 1021 00:48:53,889 --> 00:48:55,474 Never heard of that before. 1022 00:48:55,557 --> 00:48:58,477 And that's exactly what he did. 1023 00:48:59,853 --> 00:49:01,855 He ingratiated himself with you. 1024 00:49:02,814 --> 00:49:04,483 He became your friend. 1025 00:49:05,567 --> 00:49:07,778 He would take photos of guys. 1026 00:49:07,861 --> 00:49:10,030 He would give you his card and tell you 1027 00:49:10,113 --> 00:49:12,366 he can start a modeling career for you. 1028 00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:15,911 I mean, we'd often see him around with a camera. 1029 00:49:21,124 --> 00:49:22,542 He took pictures of Jim Jordan 1030 00:49:22,668 --> 00:49:24,336 for Russ Hellickson's book. 1031 00:49:25,879 --> 00:49:27,673 Oh, Doc takes photos? 1032 00:49:28,507 --> 00:49:30,592 And the weird thing, you hear that he's, like, 1033 00:49:30,676 --> 00:49:33,220 really good at it, he takes really good black-and-whites. 1034 00:49:33,720 --> 00:49:36,306 And we heard this one wrestler got a photo shoot 1035 00:49:36,390 --> 00:49:40,185 and... and it got some modeling stuff out of it, 1036 00:49:40,268 --> 00:49:41,895 got a modeling contract, 1037 00:49:41,979 --> 00:49:43,897 and he started having success as a model. 1038 00:49:44,564 --> 00:49:46,483 You know, made money. 1039 00:49:46,566 --> 00:49:47,943 And it was like, "Wow. 1040 00:49:48,026 --> 00:49:49,820 Okay." You know? 1041 00:49:53,031 --> 00:49:55,242 During the summertime, I was trying to get 1042 00:49:55,325 --> 00:49:57,285 into some modeling stuff 1043 00:49:57,369 --> 00:49:59,287 just to make some extra money. 1044 00:50:00,414 --> 00:50:03,667 And Dr. Strauss said, 1045 00:50:03,792 --> 00:50:06,169 "If you need shots, I can do it. 1046 00:50:06,253 --> 00:50:07,921 I-I'm a photographer." 1047 00:50:08,672 --> 00:50:11,591 I'm like a-- I'm a poor college student, you know? 1048 00:50:11,675 --> 00:50:13,844 I'm like, "How much is it gonna be?" 1049 00:50:13,927 --> 00:50:15,303 He goes, "Don't worry about it. 1050 00:50:15,387 --> 00:50:16,596 I-I do this for-- 1051 00:50:16,680 --> 00:50:17,723 just for the fun of it." 1052 00:50:19,057 --> 00:50:22,269 So, I went to his house. 1053 00:50:27,566 --> 00:50:30,235 He... he had his little studio set up 1054 00:50:30,318 --> 00:50:33,196 in one of his rooms, and he goes, 1055 00:50:33,280 --> 00:50:35,741 "Let's take some shots without your shirt on." 1056 00:50:39,953 --> 00:50:43,665 And I took a couple shots without my shirt on. 1057 00:50:44,958 --> 00:50:49,046 And then he's kinda putting his hands on me. 1058 00:50:49,129 --> 00:50:52,466 And he starts pulling my pants down and... 1059 00:50:53,759 --> 00:50:57,471 I'm like, "No. Not doing that." 1060 00:51:03,351 --> 00:51:06,438 He... he brought out the-the negatives and said, 1061 00:51:06,521 --> 00:51:10,108 "Hey, let's, you know, what about these pictures?" 1062 00:51:10,984 --> 00:51:13,320 So we got back to the pictures and... 1063 00:51:15,197 --> 00:51:17,282 You know, I look back on a situation like that, 1064 00:51:17,365 --> 00:51:19,576 I'm like, I put myself in that position, you know? 1065 00:51:19,659 --> 00:51:21,203 Why would I do that? 1066 00:51:21,870 --> 00:51:24,081 I mean, I know how this guy is, 1067 00:51:24,790 --> 00:51:26,541 and I put myself in that position. 1068 00:51:26,666 --> 00:51:30,337 So, I'm like, am I bringing this on to myself? 1069 00:51:30,420 --> 00:51:32,214 Am I-- You know? 1070 00:51:32,297 --> 00:51:34,382 Why did I put myself in that position? 1071 00:51:36,551 --> 00:51:37,803 But I did. 1072 00:51:43,642 --> 00:51:46,394 I started being told many times, 1073 00:51:46,478 --> 00:51:48,897 "You're Dr. Strauss's favorite, aren't you? He is. 1074 00:51:48,980 --> 00:51:51,191 You're Dr. Strauss's favorite." 1075 00:51:51,274 --> 00:51:52,818 And just like that, 1076 00:51:52,901 --> 00:51:56,404 Dr. Strauss was always there. 1077 00:51:57,405 --> 00:51:58,573 So, yeah. 1078 00:51:59,533 --> 00:52:01,493 Shit, man! 1079 00:52:01,576 --> 00:52:03,453 Push him, Dan, push him! 1080 00:52:07,999 --> 00:52:09,668 He was always there. 1081 00:52:10,544 --> 00:52:12,879 You'd come off the ice, and he's there. 1082 00:52:16,883 --> 00:52:19,678 And, of course, if anything happened, 1083 00:52:19,761 --> 00:52:21,429 he would check you. 1084 00:52:22,013 --> 00:52:23,431 You didn't have a choice. 1085 00:52:25,892 --> 00:52:28,103 At that level, you're supposed to compartmentalize, 1086 00:52:28,186 --> 00:52:29,271 put your shit away, 1087 00:52:29,354 --> 00:52:31,064 you're on the ice doing your job. 1088 00:52:32,482 --> 00:52:33,817 And I just couldn't. 1089 00:52:37,195 --> 00:52:38,738 I just could never get my shit together. 1090 00:52:39,990 --> 00:52:42,701 In practice, you're like, "What was that all about?" 1091 00:52:44,828 --> 00:52:47,581 You run drills in practice, and I was having trouble 1092 00:52:47,664 --> 00:52:49,332 remembering what the next thing was. 1093 00:52:49,416 --> 00:52:50,542 I mean, I was a mess. 1094 00:52:52,586 --> 00:52:55,630 I was focused. I mean, I was a machine 1095 00:52:55,714 --> 00:52:58,592 coming here, and then the-the wheels came off. 1096 00:52:59,759 --> 00:53:02,387 Another fight, Al Nova-- Novakowski. 1097 00:53:02,470 --> 00:53:04,681 You've got no one to talk to 1098 00:53:04,764 --> 00:53:06,433 'cause you don't know that you're the only one 1099 00:53:06,516 --> 00:53:07,809 this is happening to, 1100 00:53:08,393 --> 00:53:11,771 and it just continued to spiral. 1101 00:53:13,064 --> 00:53:14,733 I was never the same person. 1102 00:53:21,156 --> 00:53:22,782 I remember 1103 00:53:22,866 --> 00:53:25,452 it was Sunday morning, and I slept in. 1104 00:53:26,203 --> 00:53:28,079 You don't sleep in. You don't miss practice. 1105 00:53:28,205 --> 00:53:29,915 And I remember getting there and going, like, 1106 00:53:29,998 --> 00:53:31,583 "Oh, my God, I'm in so much trouble." 1107 00:53:34,127 --> 00:53:36,713 I went to the coach's office 1108 00:53:36,755 --> 00:53:40,383 and said, "Look, I'm-- I'm really sorry, you know?" 1109 00:53:41,092 --> 00:53:42,594 He said, "You're done." 1110 00:53:44,012 --> 00:53:45,597 Said, "What do you mean I'm done?" 1111 00:53:45,680 --> 00:53:47,682 He goes, "You're nothing but a fucking cancer 1112 00:53:47,766 --> 00:53:49,267 to this hockey team." 1113 00:53:50,477 --> 00:53:54,356 And my whole body just kinda-- just kind of... 1114 00:53:58,360 --> 00:54:00,195 He just ended my dream. 1115 00:54:01,988 --> 00:54:04,241 My whole world has just exploded. 1116 00:54:05,909 --> 00:54:07,577 I didn't know what to say to him, 1117 00:54:07,702 --> 00:54:09,079 and I got up, 1118 00:54:09,162 --> 00:54:12,999 and... I left the rink and I never went back. 1119 00:54:23,176 --> 00:54:25,345 I remember, during practice, 1120 00:54:25,428 --> 00:54:27,389 I separated my shoulder, 1121 00:54:27,472 --> 00:54:30,600 and Russ said, "Go have Dr. Strauss check out your shoulder." 1122 00:54:31,184 --> 00:54:33,395 "Okay. Here we go." 1123 00:54:37,899 --> 00:54:40,110 And I'm standing there 1124 00:54:40,193 --> 00:54:41,903 naked in front of this man. 1125 00:54:44,864 --> 00:54:46,700 Does the same exam. 1126 00:54:47,492 --> 00:54:50,328 You know, rubbing behind your-your testicles, 1127 00:54:50,412 --> 00:54:52,706 and then pulling on my-my penis, 1128 00:54:52,789 --> 00:54:54,541 and kind of giving it some pulls. 1129 00:54:54,624 --> 00:54:56,376 And I'm-I'm tense, 1130 00:54:56,459 --> 00:54:58,628 and I'm staring up at the ceiling like, 1131 00:54:58,712 --> 00:55:00,213 "Please let this end, please let this end, 1132 00:55:00,297 --> 00:55:01,506 please let this end." 1133 00:55:01,589 --> 00:55:02,841 He kept going, 1134 00:55:02,924 --> 00:55:04,092 and I'm looking down 1135 00:55:04,175 --> 00:55:05,427 at the top of his head. 1136 00:55:05,510 --> 00:55:06,886 That's how close he was. 1137 00:55:06,970 --> 00:55:08,680 He leans in 1138 00:55:08,763 --> 00:55:10,056 as he's doing this, 1139 00:55:10,140 --> 00:55:11,308 and when he does, 1140 00:55:11,391 --> 00:55:12,559 I start pulling away. 1141 00:55:12,642 --> 00:55:13,935 I pull my hips away, 1142 00:55:14,019 --> 00:55:15,353 and then he leans back and says, 1143 00:55:15,437 --> 00:55:16,646 "All right, pull 'em up." 1144 00:55:17,272 --> 00:55:20,233 I pulled them up, didn't say two words to him, I left. 1145 00:55:22,986 --> 00:55:24,654 I didn't go to practice. 1146 00:55:25,739 --> 00:55:28,074 I vanished for a couple weeks. 1147 00:55:31,494 --> 00:55:34,039 Finally, I went into Russ's office. 1148 00:55:35,749 --> 00:55:37,334 And I said, "Russ, 1149 00:55:37,459 --> 00:55:38,793 I'm done. 1150 00:55:39,502 --> 00:55:40,712 I can't do this." 1151 00:55:41,963 --> 00:55:43,631 And he said, "Well... 1152 00:55:45,342 --> 00:55:47,010 if you want to come back, 1153 00:55:47,093 --> 00:55:48,762 you can always come back, 1154 00:55:48,845 --> 00:55:50,972 but all right then." 1155 00:55:51,056 --> 00:55:52,724 And that's what I got from him. 1156 00:55:53,433 --> 00:55:55,352 After wrestling for three years, 1157 00:55:55,435 --> 00:55:58,271 that was the extent of the conversation. 1158 00:55:59,773 --> 00:56:01,691 And that was the last time 1159 00:56:01,775 --> 00:56:03,401 that I was on that team. 1160 00:56:04,069 --> 00:56:07,655 I walked away from wrestling at Ohio State, 1161 00:56:08,656 --> 00:56:10,867 and I dropped out of school 1162 00:56:10,992 --> 00:56:13,536 because I didn't have my scholarship anymore. 1163 00:56:14,412 --> 00:56:18,041 And the state champion, Dan Ritchie. 1164 00:56:21,086 --> 00:56:22,712 My dad was so angry. 1165 00:56:23,671 --> 00:56:26,216 My dad was like, "You have a year and a half left. 1166 00:56:26,299 --> 00:56:27,342 Why can't you do it?" 1167 00:56:28,426 --> 00:56:30,553 And I couldn't tell him. 1168 00:56:31,346 --> 00:56:32,806 I didn't know how. 1169 00:56:35,225 --> 00:56:37,310 I was not strong enough or able 1170 00:56:37,394 --> 00:56:40,522 to explain to him that... 1171 00:56:42,482 --> 00:56:44,150 this is... 1172 00:56:45,110 --> 00:56:46,778 This is what happened. 1173 00:56:49,572 --> 00:56:53,576 And I can't-- I can't deal with it. 1174 00:56:57,914 --> 00:56:59,249 And I think... 1175 00:56:59,958 --> 00:57:02,752 I think the inability of that... 1176 00:57:05,046 --> 00:57:07,424 it did put a negative, uh... 1177 00:57:12,887 --> 00:57:16,724 Our relationship hasn't been the same, I think, since. 1178 00:57:23,565 --> 00:57:25,233 Did you tell your parents? 1179 00:57:26,568 --> 00:57:29,028 Did I tell my parents my scholarship was pulled? 1180 00:57:31,030 --> 00:57:33,032 No. No. 1181 00:57:34,367 --> 00:57:35,410 No. 1182 00:57:37,996 --> 00:57:39,706 What's-- What's-- 1183 00:57:39,789 --> 00:57:42,333 What's-- What's the next question gonna be? 1184 00:57:42,417 --> 00:57:44,794 "Why-- Why are you kicked off the team?" 1185 00:57:44,878 --> 00:57:46,463 Um, telling your parents, 1186 00:57:46,546 --> 00:57:49,424 who are, you know, they're-they're... 1187 00:57:49,507 --> 00:57:51,176 Ah, I mean... 1188 00:57:52,302 --> 00:57:54,637 No, I did not tell my parents I was kicked off the team, 1189 00:57:54,721 --> 00:57:58,266 and I did not tell them I lost my scholarship. 1190 00:57:58,349 --> 00:58:00,143 Told some people I wasn't playing anymore, 1191 00:58:00,226 --> 00:58:01,603 and they said, "Well, how come?" 1192 00:58:01,686 --> 00:58:03,480 I just told them I wasn't good enough. 1193 00:58:05,565 --> 00:58:08,776 Had some people going like, "What are you talking about?" 1194 00:58:08,860 --> 00:58:10,695 Especially some of the guys who knew me, 1195 00:58:10,778 --> 00:58:13,823 some of the old coaches, guys who'd watched me play junior. 1196 00:58:13,907 --> 00:58:16,493 Like, "What are you... talking about?" 1197 00:58:16,618 --> 00:58:18,203 And I would just avoid the question. 1198 00:58:20,079 --> 00:58:22,665 But I-I internalized that lie, I guess. 1199 00:58:22,790 --> 00:58:24,667 I started drinking quite a bit 1200 00:58:24,792 --> 00:58:27,420 and descended into depression. 1201 00:58:33,718 --> 00:58:37,430 Meanwhile, Dr. Strauss is ascending and expanding. 1202 00:58:38,890 --> 00:58:41,935 So imagine this, here's a guy who has this welter of complaints 1203 00:58:42,018 --> 00:58:43,520 going back more than a decade, 1204 00:58:43,603 --> 00:58:45,188 and what does Ohio State do? 1205 00:58:47,649 --> 00:58:48,942 They promote him. 1206 00:58:50,318 --> 00:58:53,905 He becomes the main physician at OSU's general health center. 1207 00:58:53,988 --> 00:58:56,199 You say, "Wait a second. What?! 1208 00:58:56,282 --> 00:58:57,951 Everyone knew this. 1209 00:58:58,034 --> 00:59:01,246 The team doctor showers with the athletes over and over, 1210 00:59:01,329 --> 00:59:03,206 and you promote this guy?" 1211 00:59:03,289 --> 00:59:06,668 But that's bafflingly exactly what Ohio State does. 1212 00:59:06,793 --> 00:59:09,462 And so, Dr. Strauss continues what he's been doing 1213 00:59:09,546 --> 00:59:11,965 for the last decade-plus, 1214 00:59:12,048 --> 00:59:14,384 which is assaulting college-age males 1215 00:59:15,093 --> 00:59:17,845 under the guise of being a medical professional. 1216 00:59:21,724 --> 00:59:23,309 I had a lump on my chest, 1217 00:59:23,393 --> 00:59:25,687 so I decided that I needed to go get it checked. 1218 00:59:25,770 --> 00:59:27,355 So I looked up in the student directory 1219 00:59:27,438 --> 00:59:29,983 and saw that there was a medical center and went there. 1220 00:59:31,734 --> 00:59:34,529 And they said, "We're gonna give you to Dr. Strauss." 1221 00:59:34,612 --> 00:59:35,905 This physician walks in, 1222 00:59:35,989 --> 00:59:38,157 he was kind of a smaller type guy. 1223 00:59:38,241 --> 00:59:40,034 Seemed polite enough. 1224 00:59:40,159 --> 00:59:41,828 And he started asking me, 1225 00:59:41,911 --> 00:59:43,621 you know, questions about what had happened, 1226 00:59:43,746 --> 00:59:45,832 and, you know, what I was there for, 1227 00:59:45,915 --> 00:59:48,459 then he started to get into some really weird questions 1228 00:59:48,543 --> 00:59:51,713 about if I was gay and just all kinds of stuff, 1229 00:59:51,796 --> 00:59:53,506 and it was just really odd to me. 1230 00:59:53,590 --> 00:59:55,049 And then he made me de-clothe. 1231 00:59:55,133 --> 00:59:56,759 He had me get completely naked, 1232 00:59:56,843 --> 00:59:59,470 which just seemed very weird to me as well, 1233 00:59:59,554 --> 01:00:01,973 but again, he's a medical doctor, I was a kid, you know? 1234 01:00:02,056 --> 01:00:05,351 I-I thought I gotta listen to whatever this guy says to do. 1235 01:00:05,435 --> 01:00:09,063 And he proceeded to give me a genital examination. 1236 01:00:11,524 --> 01:00:13,776 And I don't remember any gloves being used. 1237 01:00:14,402 --> 01:00:16,321 And I can remember his breath. 1238 01:00:16,404 --> 01:00:18,281 Like, I can remember his breath on my genitals 1239 01:00:18,364 --> 01:00:19,449 when he was examining them. 1240 01:00:20,658 --> 01:00:23,161 Then he asked, you know, if I ever wanted to sleep 1241 01:00:23,244 --> 01:00:25,163 with more than just one person. 1242 01:00:25,246 --> 01:00:27,624 At that point, I was starting to get really uncomfortable 1243 01:00:27,707 --> 01:00:29,500 because I understood something wasn't right. 1244 01:00:30,960 --> 01:00:32,879 Then he was holding my chest 1245 01:00:32,962 --> 01:00:35,340 and he was like massaging it, and that's when he started 1246 01:00:35,423 --> 01:00:37,342 to thrust his pelvis into my side, 1247 01:00:37,425 --> 01:00:39,594 and I-I could tell that he had an erection, 1248 01:00:39,677 --> 01:00:41,054 and then I was just mortified 1249 01:00:41,137 --> 01:00:42,889 'cause I just didn't know what to do. 1250 01:00:42,972 --> 01:00:45,099 Then I'm trying to get out of the situation 1251 01:00:45,183 --> 01:00:46,601 the best that I could. 1252 01:00:47,310 --> 01:00:48,603 And I left. 1253 01:00:50,855 --> 01:00:53,149 And I remember, I was so angry. 1254 01:00:53,232 --> 01:00:54,525 I called the next day, 1255 01:00:54,609 --> 01:00:56,152 and I got Ted Grace on the phone, 1256 01:00:56,235 --> 01:00:58,154 the head of Student Services. 1257 01:00:58,237 --> 01:01:00,406 He said, "Well, you know, if you want to come in here, 1258 01:01:00,490 --> 01:01:03,701 we can try to talk about this and sit down with Strauss." 1259 01:01:04,327 --> 01:01:06,245 I think it's really relevant 1260 01:01:06,371 --> 01:01:09,290 that what is, in effect, the first whistleblower 1261 01:01:09,374 --> 01:01:11,042 is not an athlete. 1262 01:01:11,751 --> 01:01:13,711 Steve Snyder-Hill doesn't have to worry 1263 01:01:13,795 --> 01:01:15,546 about the power balance that comes with, 1264 01:01:15,630 --> 01:01:17,215 "Hey, I could lose my scholarship," 1265 01:01:17,256 --> 01:01:19,425 or the shame in the locker room. 1266 01:01:19,509 --> 01:01:21,260 So he has that power. 1267 01:01:21,344 --> 01:01:23,137 Raise your right hand, please. 1268 01:01:23,221 --> 01:01:25,390 Do you swear the testimony you're about to give will be 1269 01:01:25,473 --> 01:01:27,892 the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? 1270 01:01:27,975 --> 01:01:29,268 -I do. -Thank you. 1271 01:01:31,187 --> 01:01:32,939 - Morning, Dr. Grace. -Good morning. 1272 01:01:33,022 --> 01:01:34,982 My name is Ilann Maazel. 1273 01:01:35,066 --> 01:01:36,734 In 2019, as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed 1274 01:01:36,818 --> 01:01:38,111 by victims of Dr. Richard Strauss, 1275 01:01:38,194 --> 01:01:40,154 attorney Ilann Maazel deposed Dr. Ted Grace, 1276 01:01:40,238 --> 01:01:43,324 Strauss’ former supervisor at Student Health Services. 1277 01:01:43,408 --> 01:01:46,828 My firm is most well-known for taking on 1278 01:01:46,911 --> 01:01:48,871 powerful interests, the city, the state, 1279 01:01:48,955 --> 01:01:50,248 the United States government... 1280 01:01:50,331 --> 01:01:51,541 ILANN M. MAAZEL CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY 1281 01:01:51,624 --> 01:01:55,002 lots of big companies, lots of important, powerful people, 1282 01:01:55,086 --> 01:01:56,462 and speaking truth to power. 1283 01:01:56,546 --> 01:01:57,547 That's what we do. 1284 01:01:58,381 --> 01:02:01,342 Dr. Strauss was under your command at Student Health, correct? 1285 01:02:02,051 --> 01:02:03,136 Correct. 1286 01:02:04,011 --> 01:02:06,055 Dr. Grace, I would say, 1287 01:02:06,139 --> 01:02:07,765 was the only person at OSU 1288 01:02:07,849 --> 01:02:10,351 who ever did anything about Dr. Strauss. 1289 01:02:11,102 --> 01:02:14,063 And the scary thing is, I think that's true. 1290 01:02:14,147 --> 01:02:17,400 He's the one and only person who ever did anything 1291 01:02:17,483 --> 01:02:20,570 about Dr. Strauss for 20 years. 1292 01:02:21,320 --> 01:02:24,073 And it began, finally, in 1995. 1293 01:02:24,157 --> 01:02:28,286 You attended a meeting with Mr. Snyder-Hill 1294 01:02:28,369 --> 01:02:29,829 and Dr. Strauss, right? 1295 01:02:29,954 --> 01:02:30,913 Correct. 1296 01:02:31,914 --> 01:02:34,834 So I walked in, and there was Dr. Strauss. 1297 01:02:36,377 --> 01:02:38,337 Dr. Strauss was really cordial, 1298 01:02:38,379 --> 01:02:39,922 but then when I said the part about 1299 01:02:40,006 --> 01:02:41,507 where he pushed his erection against me, 1300 01:02:41,591 --> 01:02:43,551 he slammed down on the table really hard 1301 01:02:43,634 --> 01:02:46,220 and screamed, "You're just trying to ruin my reputation!" 1302 01:02:49,056 --> 01:02:51,350 I remember just being frozen 'cause, you know, I was a kid 1303 01:02:51,434 --> 01:02:53,352 and I looked at these doctors in the room 1304 01:02:53,436 --> 01:02:56,147 and I-I was like, "I don't know what to say right now," 1305 01:02:56,230 --> 01:02:58,858 and neither did they. They were just all in shock. 1306 01:02:58,941 --> 01:03:01,277 You know, you doubt yourself because you're sitting here 1307 01:03:01,360 --> 01:03:04,655 thinking, "Well, maybe he had a wallet in his pocket. 1308 01:03:04,739 --> 01:03:06,741 Maybe I was confused and mistaken." 1309 01:03:07,366 --> 01:03:09,410 And so, after that, you know, I went out, 1310 01:03:09,494 --> 01:03:11,496 and I was just upset at the time. 1311 01:03:11,579 --> 01:03:13,664 Left. Ted Grace called me later 1312 01:03:13,748 --> 01:03:15,833 and he said, "What can we do to make this right?" 1313 01:03:15,917 --> 01:03:18,336 And I said, "If you tell me I'm confused and mistaken, 1314 01:03:18,461 --> 01:03:20,588 I will believe you if you can tell me 1315 01:03:20,671 --> 01:03:22,131 it never happened to anybody else." 1316 01:03:22,215 --> 01:03:23,883 And then that's what he said, you know, 1317 01:03:23,966 --> 01:03:25,510 "I promise you it's never happened." 1318 01:03:25,593 --> 01:03:28,846 And so then I said, "Great, then put it in a letter to me." 1319 01:03:28,930 --> 01:03:30,973 And there was silence on the phone. 1320 01:03:31,057 --> 01:03:32,809 Like, I could tell that bothered him. 1321 01:03:32,892 --> 01:03:35,937 But a couple days later, I got a letter from him. 1322 01:03:36,646 --> 01:03:38,481 This is a letter you wrote 1323 01:03:39,482 --> 01:03:41,984 Stephen Snyder-Hill on January 26th, 1995. 1324 01:03:42,068 --> 01:03:43,486 -Correct? -Correct. 1325 01:03:44,070 --> 01:03:46,531 And you wrote, quote... 1326 01:03:46,614 --> 01:03:48,825 "I want to assure you that we had never received a complaint 1327 01:03:48,908 --> 01:03:50,243 about Sr. Strauss before, 1328 01:03:50,743 --> 01:03:52,578 although we had several positive comments. 1329 01:03:52,662 --> 01:03:53,663 Close quote. 1330 01:03:54,413 --> 01:03:56,332 Now, that was actually a false statement. 1331 01:03:56,415 --> 01:03:57,583 -Correct? -Correct. 1332 01:03:58,751 --> 01:04:00,920 Now I find out 24 years later 1333 01:04:01,003 --> 01:04:03,589 that a kid complained three days before me. 1334 01:04:04,382 --> 01:04:06,008 Three days before me. 1335 01:04:06,509 --> 01:04:09,637 Did you ever tell Stephen Snyder-Hill 1336 01:04:09,720 --> 01:04:11,973 about this student's complaint? 1337 01:04:15,393 --> 01:04:17,603 I don't believe I did. 1338 01:04:21,691 --> 01:04:24,277 I, by the way, would like to add this 1339 01:04:24,360 --> 01:04:26,112 to the record, if you don't mind. 1340 01:04:26,195 --> 01:04:27,780 -Go ahead. -I didn't realize 1341 01:04:27,864 --> 01:04:30,575 that-that I had made a misstatement 1342 01:04:30,700 --> 01:04:31,742 until recently. 1343 01:04:32,577 --> 01:04:34,579 But you wrote this letter 23 days 1344 01:04:34,704 --> 01:04:36,581 after this student's complaint, right? 1345 01:04:36,664 --> 01:04:37,665 I know. 1346 01:04:37,790 --> 01:04:39,959 But it-it-- it was-- 1347 01:04:40,835 --> 01:04:42,670 I don't-- I'm guessing 1348 01:04:42,753 --> 01:04:46,465 that I didn't yet know about the first complaint 1349 01:04:46,549 --> 01:04:49,176 when I wrote this 'cause there's no-- 1350 01:04:49,260 --> 01:04:51,804 I would not have-- I be-- No, you don't know me, 1351 01:04:51,888 --> 01:04:53,890 but I wouldn't intentionally lie to Stephen Hill. 1352 01:04:53,973 --> 01:04:55,349 There's no reason to. 1353 01:04:55,433 --> 01:04:56,893 Well, Stephen Hill told you 1354 01:04:56,976 --> 01:04:59,687 that if there had been any prior complaints 1355 01:04:59,770 --> 01:05:02,064 against Dr.-- let me finish-- against Dr. Strauss, 1356 01:05:02,148 --> 01:05:04,358 he was not gonna drop the charges, right? 1357 01:05:04,442 --> 01:05:05,651 That's what he told you. 1358 01:05:05,735 --> 01:05:07,028 And what does-- 1359 01:05:07,111 --> 01:05:08,613 What does "drop the charges" mean? 1360 01:05:08,696 --> 01:05:10,448 Can you answer that question, please? 1361 01:05:10,531 --> 01:05:13,618 He told you, "You need to tell me there's never been a prior complaint, 1362 01:05:13,701 --> 01:05:15,119 or I'm not dropping the charges." 1363 01:05:15,202 --> 01:05:16,829 That's what these notes say. 1364 01:05:16,913 --> 01:05:18,414 And we're talking about charges 1365 01:05:18,497 --> 01:05:20,416 of sexual misconduct and sexual assault 1366 01:05:20,499 --> 01:05:23,794 against your doctor, Dr. Strauss, right? 1367 01:05:23,878 --> 01:05:25,546 That is-- That is correct. 1368 01:05:25,630 --> 01:05:28,174 I mean, I-I wanted to get that on the record. 1369 01:05:28,215 --> 01:05:29,508 I made a mistake 1370 01:05:30,134 --> 01:05:31,886 when I told him that. 1371 01:05:32,386 --> 01:05:34,305 They lied to me. They told me 1372 01:05:34,388 --> 01:05:35,973 what to believe and I believed them, 1373 01:05:36,057 --> 01:05:38,017 and I-I took their word for it. 1374 01:05:38,100 --> 01:05:40,186 And so, I went about my life 1375 01:05:41,062 --> 01:05:43,314 believing I had been wrong about this man. 1376 01:05:45,149 --> 01:05:47,276 And it was so beyond what I imagined. 1377 01:05:48,319 --> 01:05:49,570 So beyond. 1378 01:05:57,119 --> 01:05:58,955 One evening, I wasn't feeling great 1379 01:05:59,038 --> 01:06:00,498 and I was having trouble swallowing. 1380 01:06:00,581 --> 01:06:03,376 I think probably it was too much vodka or whatever. 1381 01:06:04,335 --> 01:06:06,003 So my roommate gave me a ride down 1382 01:06:06,087 --> 01:06:07,838 to the Student Health Center, 1383 01:06:07,880 --> 01:06:11,092 and I went in, you know, like a normal student, 1384 01:06:11,175 --> 01:06:12,760 which kinda sucked because I was used 1385 01:06:12,843 --> 01:06:14,637 to being an athlete and you're, you know... 1386 01:06:14,720 --> 01:06:16,430 But I was a normal student at the time, 1387 01:06:16,514 --> 01:06:18,265 so I'm-I'm-I'm standing there in line 1388 01:06:18,349 --> 01:06:20,726 and, you know, just minding my own business, and then, 1389 01:06:20,810 --> 01:06:22,436 I look and there he is. 1390 01:06:23,479 --> 01:06:24,897 There's Dr. Strauss. 1391 01:06:25,690 --> 01:06:28,401 That time, he didn't do all the stuff he usually did. 1392 01:06:28,484 --> 01:06:31,445 It was a very... quick examination. 1393 01:06:31,529 --> 01:06:33,531 And he goes, "It's your epiglottis," 1394 01:06:33,614 --> 01:06:35,366 and he goes, "It moves like this," 1395 01:06:35,449 --> 01:06:37,201 and it was in spasm. 1396 01:06:37,284 --> 01:06:40,162 Doc said, you know, "In order to get rid of the spasm, 1397 01:06:40,246 --> 01:06:42,081 we will, um, we're gonna sedate you. 1398 01:06:42,164 --> 01:06:44,000 We're gonna give you a sedative, it'll relax you, 1399 01:06:44,125 --> 01:06:45,835 and that'll come out of spasm." 1400 01:06:45,918 --> 01:06:50,172 So I was thankful. You know, like, "Thank you for being a doctor." 1401 01:06:52,591 --> 01:06:57,013 He gave me a shot at the hospital to relax me. 1402 01:06:59,473 --> 01:07:01,475 And he said, "Let me give you a ride home." 1403 01:07:03,060 --> 01:07:05,104 I don't remember getting into the car, but I remember 1404 01:07:05,187 --> 01:07:07,398 he helped me go up to my room. 1405 01:07:09,108 --> 01:07:10,985 I laid down. 1406 01:07:11,068 --> 01:07:12,653 I couldn't move. 1407 01:07:13,279 --> 01:07:14,488 I was sort of paralyzed. 1408 01:07:14,572 --> 01:07:18,534 He was rubbing my side or my back, and I thought, 1409 01:07:18,617 --> 01:07:20,745 "What the fuck? This is weird," but again, 1410 01:07:21,328 --> 01:07:23,205 you're so out, you're trying-- you're... 1411 01:07:24,040 --> 01:07:25,458 trying to process, 1412 01:07:25,541 --> 01:07:27,168 but you're so stoned or whatever it is, 1413 01:07:27,251 --> 01:07:29,086 I mean, you don't really... 1414 01:07:30,337 --> 01:07:31,839 So, um... 1415 01:07:36,177 --> 01:07:37,928 Yeah, then he raped me. 1416 01:07:49,231 --> 01:07:52,693 I woke up in the morning and... 1417 01:08:03,788 --> 01:08:05,456 I was trying to process it, 1418 01:08:05,581 --> 01:08:07,416 you know, like, what-- what-- 1419 01:08:09,919 --> 01:08:11,462 Trying to remember the night, like, 1420 01:08:11,545 --> 01:08:14,006 how did we get here, how did we get-- 1421 01:08:14,799 --> 01:08:17,051 How did we get to this? 1422 01:08:17,134 --> 01:08:18,552 And... 1423 01:08:22,014 --> 01:08:24,100 Yeah, I was in-- I was in fucking shock. 1424 01:08:24,183 --> 01:08:26,227 Like, I was in-- Like, I was... 1425 01:08:26,852 --> 01:08:29,146 I was-- I was-- 1426 01:08:34,068 --> 01:08:35,820 And who are you gonna tell? 1427 01:08:35,903 --> 01:08:38,572 Like, who... who am I gonna tell? 1428 01:08:45,788 --> 01:08:48,624 By the time I interviewed Al Novakowski, 1429 01:08:48,707 --> 01:08:53,045 the investigation had identified 47 rape victims. 1430 01:08:53,129 --> 01:08:55,464 Now we know he was number 48. 1431 01:08:55,548 --> 01:08:57,133 When I found out that they knew, 1432 01:08:58,384 --> 01:09:00,427 when I found out that The Ohio State University 1433 01:09:00,511 --> 01:09:03,389 knew he groped and touched the athletes, 1434 01:09:04,181 --> 01:09:05,641 I was beyond... 1435 01:09:06,976 --> 01:09:09,145 Well, to this day, I'm thinking, "Holy shit. 1436 01:09:09,228 --> 01:09:11,355 Did these people not have kids? 1437 01:09:11,438 --> 01:09:14,233 Did these people not have hearts or souls?" Like... 1438 01:09:15,442 --> 01:09:17,820 Like, there's a special place for these people, 1439 01:09:17,903 --> 01:09:19,572 and it's not heaven. 1440 01:09:19,655 --> 01:09:22,449 For those that knew, can you-- Like, they knew it! 1441 01:09:24,451 --> 01:09:26,328 How many others are out there 1442 01:09:27,079 --> 01:09:30,457 who may never share their story publicly? 1443 01:09:37,590 --> 01:09:39,425 I dropped out of school. 1444 01:09:41,302 --> 01:09:44,597 And Dr. Strauss went on, 1445 01:09:44,680 --> 01:09:45,681 year 1446 01:09:46,432 --> 01:09:48,017 after year 1447 01:09:48,100 --> 01:09:49,393 after year. 1448 01:09:59,486 --> 01:10:02,156 So I'm showing you exhibit 19. 1449 01:10:02,907 --> 01:10:05,326 Another very disturbing incident. 1450 01:10:05,451 --> 01:10:06,952 -Right? -Yes. 1451 01:10:07,036 --> 01:10:08,662 This is now the third 1452 01:10:08,746 --> 01:10:10,372 direct complaint against Dr. Strauss? 1453 01:10:10,456 --> 01:10:12,333 - Correct. -The Student A complaint 1454 01:10:12,416 --> 01:10:14,585 was January 3rd, 1995, correct? 1455 01:10:14,710 --> 01:10:16,045 Correct. 1456 01:10:16,545 --> 01:10:18,756 Student B complaint was January 6th, 1995. 1457 01:10:18,839 --> 01:10:20,090 -Right? - Correct. 1458 01:10:20,174 --> 01:10:23,510 And you wrote this memo on January 10th, 1996, right? 1459 01:10:24,887 --> 01:10:27,264 - Correct. -So that's over a year later. 1460 01:10:27,890 --> 01:10:28,891 Correct. 1461 01:10:31,644 --> 01:10:33,520 This student reported 1462 01:10:34,563 --> 01:10:37,524 that Dr. Strauss commented on his big muscles, 1463 01:10:37,608 --> 01:10:39,235 asked him to take off his shirt. 1464 01:10:39,318 --> 01:10:41,403 - Yes. -Dr. Strauss told Student C, 1465 01:10:41,487 --> 01:10:43,739 "Take everything off from the waist down," 1466 01:10:43,864 --> 01:10:46,450 and did a slow exam that Student C described 1467 01:10:46,533 --> 01:10:48,744 as fondling and like nothing he'd ever had before. 1468 01:10:49,411 --> 01:10:50,412 Right. 1469 01:10:51,080 --> 01:10:52,915 And then the student ejaculated. 1470 01:10:52,998 --> 01:10:54,541 -Right? -Yes. 1471 01:10:54,625 --> 01:10:56,585 Have you ever heard about a patient who ejaculated 1472 01:10:56,669 --> 01:10:57,920 during a medical examination? 1473 01:10:58,003 --> 01:10:59,380 No. 1474 01:10:59,421 --> 01:11:02,841 The only time you ever heard that is in the context of Dr. Strauss, right? 1475 01:11:02,925 --> 01:11:03,926 Yes. 1476 01:11:04,677 --> 01:11:06,428 During the investigation of that complaint, 1477 01:11:06,512 --> 01:11:08,430 you placed Dr. Strauss on administrative leave. 1478 01:11:08,514 --> 01:11:09,932 -Correct? - Correct. 1479 01:11:15,562 --> 01:11:17,773 One of the incredible things about this case is, 1480 01:11:18,357 --> 01:11:21,235 you know, Dr. Grace did not report 1481 01:11:21,318 --> 01:11:22,987 Dr. Strauss to the medical board. 1482 01:11:24,071 --> 01:11:25,739 It was Dr. Strauss 1483 01:11:25,823 --> 01:11:28,867 who reported Dr. Grace to the medical board. 1484 01:11:31,412 --> 01:11:33,998 He complained that Dr. Grace 1485 01:11:34,081 --> 01:11:37,459 had confronted him over alleged sexual abuse, 1486 01:11:37,543 --> 01:11:39,211 and Dr. Strauss was the one being wronged. 1487 01:11:39,295 --> 01:11:40,921 He was the one being harassed. 1488 01:11:41,964 --> 01:11:44,174 Over three months after Student C's complaint 1489 01:11:44,258 --> 01:11:46,343 is when Dr. Strauss complains 1490 01:11:46,427 --> 01:11:47,720 to the medical board about you. 1491 01:11:47,803 --> 01:11:49,722 -Yes. -And so, at that point, 1492 01:11:49,805 --> 01:11:51,640 you had not spoken with the medical board. 1493 01:11:51,724 --> 01:11:53,100 -Correct? -Correct. 1494 01:11:53,183 --> 01:11:54,935 Or had any contact with the medical board. 1495 01:11:55,019 --> 01:11:56,061 -Correct? -Correct. 1496 01:11:56,145 --> 01:11:57,521 Or made any complaint about Dr. Strauss 1497 01:11:57,604 --> 01:11:59,398 -to the medical board. Correct? -Correct. 1498 01:12:01,525 --> 01:12:03,027 And then in July 1996, 1499 01:12:03,110 --> 01:12:04,611 you did meet with the medical board. 1500 01:12:04,695 --> 01:12:05,779 -Correct? -Yes. 1501 01:12:05,863 --> 01:12:08,574 Because of Dr. Strauss's complaint. 1502 01:12:08,699 --> 01:12:09,950 -Right? - Correct. 1503 01:12:11,785 --> 01:12:13,662 When Dr. Grace finally was interviewed 1504 01:12:13,746 --> 01:12:15,164 by the medical board, 1505 01:12:15,247 --> 01:12:17,666 the medical board on its own 1506 01:12:17,750 --> 01:12:20,919 then initiated an investigation into Dr. Strauss. 1507 01:12:21,003 --> 01:12:22,338 So as of July 1996, 1508 01:12:22,379 --> 01:12:23,797 no one at the university filed any kind 1509 01:12:23,881 --> 01:12:26,633 of complaint against Dr. Strauss, correct? 1510 01:12:27,551 --> 01:12:29,053 Not in writing. 1511 01:12:29,845 --> 01:12:32,264 Well, according to the medical board, not at all. 1512 01:12:34,099 --> 01:12:36,185 After this, what OSU did 1513 01:12:36,268 --> 01:12:39,688 is they had a secret disciplinary hearing 1514 01:12:39,772 --> 01:12:41,023 for Dr. Strauss. 1515 01:12:41,106 --> 01:12:43,150 Didn't reveal the findings 1516 01:12:43,233 --> 01:12:46,153 to the student body or pretty much anyone, 1517 01:12:46,236 --> 01:12:48,906 and then they very quietly removed him 1518 01:12:48,989 --> 01:12:51,033 from being the team physician 1519 01:12:51,158 --> 01:12:53,118 and from Student Health Services. 1520 01:12:53,702 --> 01:12:56,705 Quote, "On August 5th, 1996, Williams informed Strauss 1521 01:12:56,789 --> 01:12:58,999 that he considered all the information 1522 01:12:59,083 --> 01:13:01,293 and Williams had determined that Strauss's appointment 1523 01:13:01,377 --> 01:13:03,796 would not be renewed effective immediately." 1524 01:13:03,879 --> 01:13:04,838 -Correct? -Correct. 1525 01:13:04,922 --> 01:13:06,173 Everything else was renewed, right? 1526 01:13:06,256 --> 01:13:09,468 He was still a professor of Internal Medicine. Right? 1527 01:13:09,551 --> 01:13:11,929 Still a professor of Preventive Medicine. Right? 1528 01:13:12,012 --> 01:13:13,889 Still a professor at the School of Public Health. 1529 01:13:13,972 --> 01:13:15,391 Correct. 1530 01:13:15,974 --> 01:13:18,227 The university never fired Dr. Strauss, right? 1531 01:13:19,353 --> 01:13:20,354 Not that I'm aware. 1532 01:13:22,064 --> 01:13:25,025 Richard Strauss finally retired voluntarily 1533 01:13:25,109 --> 01:13:26,360 in 1998. 1534 01:13:27,611 --> 01:13:29,905 And even after he retired, 1535 01:13:29,988 --> 01:13:32,533 OSU gave him emeritus status. 1536 01:13:33,450 --> 01:13:35,369 It's an honor to have emeritus status. 1537 01:13:35,452 --> 01:13:37,079 -Yes. -And OSU 1538 01:13:37,162 --> 01:13:39,248 gave Dr. Strauss that honor. 1539 01:13:39,373 --> 01:13:41,208 -Yes. -Did they have to do that? 1540 01:13:41,291 --> 01:13:42,918 I guess not. 1541 01:13:43,043 --> 01:13:45,754 This is hardly someone who has been disgraced, 1542 01:13:45,838 --> 01:13:49,591 who leaves Columbus in-in this horrible exile 1543 01:13:49,675 --> 01:13:50,926 with a cloud over him. 1544 01:13:51,552 --> 01:13:54,054 This is an esteemed Ohio State faculty member 1545 01:13:54,138 --> 01:13:57,307 who decides to move out west to the sunshine. 1546 01:13:57,975 --> 01:14:00,394 This is someone who sets up practice in California. 1547 01:14:00,477 --> 01:14:02,521 He still can put on the wall, still can tell people 1548 01:14:02,604 --> 01:14:05,482 he's Emeritus Professor at The Ohio State. 1549 01:14:05,566 --> 01:14:07,985 This is not someone who has suffered consequence 1550 01:14:08,068 --> 01:14:09,903 for-for grievous crimes. 1551 01:14:14,408 --> 01:14:17,619 He sexually abused football players, 1552 01:14:17,744 --> 01:14:19,037 wrestlers, 1553 01:14:19,121 --> 01:14:20,956 tennis players, 1554 01:14:21,081 --> 01:14:24,460 hockey players, fencers. 1555 01:14:24,585 --> 01:14:27,379 He sexually abused students who were not athletes 1556 01:14:27,463 --> 01:14:29,631 whom he saw in Student Health Services. 1557 01:14:29,715 --> 01:14:31,258 He did this repeatedly, 1558 01:14:31,341 --> 01:14:34,636 he did it right under the nose of OSU. 1559 01:14:34,720 --> 01:14:36,513 And the whole thing 1560 01:14:37,598 --> 01:14:39,558 might have just died away forever. 1561 01:14:42,144 --> 01:14:44,855 But fast-forward 20 years, 1562 01:14:44,938 --> 01:14:46,106 it all changed. 1563 01:14:47,858 --> 01:14:49,818 Today marks a step 1564 01:14:50,777 --> 01:14:52,905 in a continuing quest 1565 01:14:52,988 --> 01:14:55,949 for accountability and justice 1566 01:14:56,074 --> 01:14:59,578 for the horrific predatory conduct 1567 01:14:59,703 --> 01:15:01,079 of Larry Nassar. 1568 01:15:04,333 --> 01:15:07,794 The Larry Nassar, Michigan State ordeal, 1569 01:15:07,878 --> 01:15:09,546 I was following that very closely 1570 01:15:09,588 --> 01:15:12,216 because, you know, my daughter was a gymnast. 1571 01:15:12,299 --> 01:15:14,092 What would you like to tell him? 1572 01:15:14,176 --> 01:15:16,345 Your Honor, thank you for the opportunity 1573 01:15:16,428 --> 01:15:18,305 to make this statement here today. 1574 01:15:18,388 --> 01:15:19,890 I called Mike DiSabato up 1575 01:15:19,973 --> 01:15:24,102 and... and I'm discussing the situation. 1576 01:15:24,186 --> 01:15:26,897 And he's reading testimony to me. 1577 01:15:26,980 --> 01:15:29,274 The hardest thing I've ever had to do is process 1578 01:15:29,358 --> 01:15:31,944 that I'm a victim of Larry Nassar. 1579 01:15:34,404 --> 01:15:36,657 I had no idea what he was doing 1580 01:15:36,740 --> 01:15:39,826 and that it was sexual assault or any type of abuse. 1581 01:15:39,952 --> 01:15:41,370 I was taught to trust doctors 1582 01:15:41,453 --> 01:15:43,080 because they are there to help you. 1583 01:15:43,163 --> 01:15:45,791 And I said, "Wow, that's us." 1584 01:15:45,874 --> 01:15:47,251 He turned the lights off. 1585 01:15:47,876 --> 01:15:50,546 I was alone without any supervision. 1586 01:15:50,629 --> 01:15:52,339 The same thing happened every single time. 1587 01:15:52,422 --> 01:15:55,217 Even when I had knee and ankle injuries. 1588 01:15:55,300 --> 01:15:56,927 I was ashamed, disgusted in myself 1589 01:15:57,010 --> 01:15:58,345 rather than at Larry. 1590 01:15:58,428 --> 01:15:59,638 Your Honor, stress the need 1591 01:15:59,721 --> 01:16:01,348 to investigate how this happened 1592 01:16:01,431 --> 01:16:03,350 so we can hold accountable those who empowered 1593 01:16:03,433 --> 01:16:04,935 and enabled Larry Nassar. 1594 01:16:05,018 --> 01:16:07,020 It makes a difference to have the abuser 1595 01:16:07,104 --> 01:16:08,981 accountable for their actions. 1596 01:16:09,064 --> 01:16:10,774 Thank you. 1597 01:16:10,857 --> 01:16:13,569 To watch them speak was powerful. 1598 01:16:15,070 --> 01:16:16,863 It unlocked something in me. 1599 01:16:16,947 --> 01:16:19,408 And I spent two months 1600 01:16:19,491 --> 01:16:21,034 speaking to my teammates... 1601 01:16:23,328 --> 01:16:25,455 to verify what I already knew, 1602 01:16:26,123 --> 01:16:28,000 that Richard Strauss 1603 01:16:28,083 --> 01:16:29,585 was another Larry Nassar. 1604 01:16:31,587 --> 01:16:34,089 Mike DiSabato, just out of the blue one day, 1605 01:16:34,172 --> 01:16:35,757 asked me about Dr. Strauss, 1606 01:16:35,841 --> 01:16:38,385 and-and I shared with him my story. 1607 01:16:40,846 --> 01:16:42,806 I'd never talked to Mike about these things, 1608 01:16:42,889 --> 01:16:45,225 and Mike asked me about Doc Strauss. 1609 01:16:46,226 --> 01:16:49,062 You know, you sit and think you don't remember 1610 01:16:49,146 --> 01:16:50,272 any of these stories. 1611 01:16:51,565 --> 01:16:54,067 And then, an hour and a half later, it's like, 1612 01:16:55,736 --> 01:16:57,321 "Oh, like, wow, that-- 1613 01:16:58,196 --> 01:16:59,197 that happened. 1614 01:16:59,990 --> 01:17:01,408 And that happened." 1615 01:17:01,533 --> 01:17:03,118 And he said, "I'm gonna tell 'em." 1616 01:17:04,077 --> 01:17:06,747 And I was taken back. I'm like, "Gonna tell who?" 1617 01:17:08,415 --> 01:17:10,876 And he said, "I'm gonna go to The Ohio State University 1618 01:17:10,959 --> 01:17:13,211 and ask for an investigation to be done." 1619 01:17:13,295 --> 01:17:15,672 I think I was speechless for a little bit... 1620 01:17:17,257 --> 01:17:19,134 and then I begged him not to. 1621 01:17:19,217 --> 01:17:20,427 Why? 1622 01:17:24,640 --> 01:17:25,932 Shame. 1623 01:17:29,144 --> 01:17:31,104 Sexual misconduct allegations 1624 01:17:31,188 --> 01:17:33,982 40 years in the making at The Ohio State University. 1625 01:17:34,066 --> 01:17:37,444 Mike told me that he was still gonna do it. 1626 01:17:37,527 --> 01:17:39,529 Details are coming to light in the investigation 1627 01:17:39,613 --> 01:17:42,866 of a former Ohio State wrestling team physician 1628 01:17:42,949 --> 01:17:45,952 possibly involved in sexual misconduct. 1629 01:17:46,078 --> 01:17:48,038 Even though I wanted no part of it, 1630 01:17:48,163 --> 01:17:49,539 I told Mike, 1631 01:17:49,623 --> 01:17:51,375 "I'm not gonna let you stand there 1632 01:17:51,458 --> 01:17:52,709 and take it by yourself." 1633 01:17:54,419 --> 01:17:55,754 "I'll stand with you." 1634 01:17:55,837 --> 01:17:57,964 Another former Ohio State student 1635 01:17:58,048 --> 01:18:01,301 has come forward to say that he too was a victim 1636 01:18:01,385 --> 01:18:03,595 of Strauss's sexual misconduct. 1637 01:18:03,679 --> 01:18:06,723 I decided that accountability needed to be had. 1638 01:18:06,807 --> 01:18:09,101 I'm speaking on behalf of many of my teammates... 1639 01:18:09,184 --> 01:18:11,103 I said, "I want to help." 1640 01:18:11,186 --> 01:18:13,188 Dan Ritchie is one of the men 1641 01:18:13,271 --> 01:18:16,358 who kept his secret for 25 years. 1642 01:18:16,441 --> 01:18:18,443 This complaint involves a student 1643 01:18:18,527 --> 01:18:19,736 at the Student Health Center. 1644 01:18:20,320 --> 01:18:22,406 As more people come forward, 1645 01:18:22,489 --> 01:18:24,950 Ohio State decided to investigate themselves. 1646 01:18:25,701 --> 01:18:27,035 OSU BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING APRIL 22, 2018 1647 01:18:27,119 --> 01:18:29,830 Just like Penn State and at Michigan, 1648 01:18:29,955 --> 01:18:32,082 they were doing what everyone would expect 1649 01:18:32,165 --> 01:18:33,458 a university was doing. 1650 01:18:33,542 --> 01:18:35,293 They were paying for 1651 01:18:35,377 --> 01:18:37,838 an in-depth independent investigation. 1652 01:18:38,630 --> 01:18:40,966 Now, a full report will be released 1653 01:18:41,049 --> 01:18:42,551 when this investigation is done. 1654 01:18:42,634 --> 01:18:44,678 No word on when that will happen. 1655 01:18:44,761 --> 01:18:47,431 What became evident quickly was that this was not 1656 01:18:47,514 --> 01:18:49,307 the USA Gymnastics scandal 1657 01:18:49,391 --> 01:18:51,309 and the dynamic there. 1658 01:18:51,393 --> 01:18:54,312 To begin with, there would be no Larry Nassar to pursue. 1659 01:18:54,396 --> 01:18:57,524 Richard Strauss had eluded the possibility of conviction. 1660 01:18:57,607 --> 01:18:59,609 The outside attorney investigating 1661 01:18:59,693 --> 01:19:01,111 provided this today: 1662 01:19:01,194 --> 01:19:04,364 Richard Strauss died in 2005. 1663 01:19:05,073 --> 01:19:07,284 We now know former OSU doctor 1664 01:19:07,367 --> 01:19:10,412 Richard Strauss died by suicide. 1665 01:19:10,495 --> 01:19:12,289 This sounds so morbid, but I pulled up 1666 01:19:12,372 --> 01:19:14,666 his autopsy report after he killed himself, 1667 01:19:14,791 --> 01:19:16,710 and I wanted to know the details of everything. 1668 01:19:16,793 --> 01:19:18,962 I wanted to know what he was wearing. 1669 01:19:19,045 --> 01:19:20,672 I wanted to know how he did it. 1670 01:19:20,756 --> 01:19:23,467 I wanted to know what they said his causes were. 1671 01:19:23,550 --> 01:19:25,510 I wanted some kind of glimpse that he did it 1672 01:19:25,594 --> 01:19:28,346 because he was miserable because of what he did to us, 1673 01:19:28,430 --> 01:19:30,974 and what it said was he did it because he was in pain 1674 01:19:31,057 --> 01:19:33,018 and the pills weren't helping him. 1675 01:19:34,811 --> 01:19:36,646 There's no remorse about what he did. 1676 01:19:36,730 --> 01:19:38,231 It was because he was inconvenienced 1677 01:19:38,315 --> 01:19:40,108 because of pain. That's what you find out, 1678 01:19:40,192 --> 01:19:41,902 and that... that just stinks. 1679 01:19:44,321 --> 01:19:46,656 If the doctor in question is dead, 1680 01:19:46,740 --> 01:19:50,619 some ask, "What is the point of this investigation anyway?" 1681 01:19:50,744 --> 01:19:52,704 Well, the university says there are two goals 1682 01:19:52,788 --> 01:19:54,206 for this investigation. 1683 01:19:54,289 --> 01:19:56,833 One of them is to identify and evaluate 1684 01:19:56,958 --> 01:19:59,419 all the allegations against Strauss, 1685 01:19:59,544 --> 01:20:01,797 and the other one is to see if anybody 1686 01:20:01,880 --> 01:20:03,757 working at the university at that time 1687 01:20:03,840 --> 01:20:05,133 knew about those allegations. 1688 01:20:05,217 --> 01:20:08,887 That, of course, could lead to criminal action. 1689 01:20:11,932 --> 01:20:15,560 If a university is deliberately indifferent 1690 01:20:15,644 --> 01:20:17,771 to sexual misconduct, 1691 01:20:17,854 --> 01:20:20,690 then they are legally responsible. 1692 01:20:20,774 --> 01:20:22,484 "Deliberately indifferent," fancy words. 1693 01:20:22,567 --> 01:20:25,153 Basically, you know, did they-- were they-- 1694 01:20:25,237 --> 01:20:27,656 Did they care? Did they do something to stop it? 1695 01:20:28,240 --> 01:20:30,784 Did they take reasonable action or not? 1696 01:20:31,368 --> 01:20:33,411 OSU not only took no action, 1697 01:20:33,995 --> 01:20:38,416 they put a known predator into a position of authority. 1698 01:20:41,795 --> 01:20:43,839 We decided to take action, 1699 01:20:43,922 --> 01:20:46,258 and I was the lead plaintiff 1700 01:20:46,341 --> 01:20:49,010 on a lawsuit filed against the university. 1701 01:20:49,970 --> 01:20:51,930 For years of alleged abuse, 1702 01:20:52,013 --> 01:20:53,723 former Ohio State wrestlers 1703 01:20:53,807 --> 01:20:55,684 are suing the university tonight, 1704 01:20:55,767 --> 01:20:57,936 claiming the school ignored their complaints 1705 01:20:58,019 --> 01:20:59,145 about a team doctor. 1706 01:20:59,229 --> 01:21:01,773 Being in this arena is scary. 1707 01:21:01,857 --> 01:21:04,109 I mean, I'm-- I'm suing a university 1708 01:21:04,192 --> 01:21:07,237 that I spent years of my life wrestling for. 1709 01:21:07,320 --> 01:21:08,572 I mean, that's just insane. 1710 01:21:09,114 --> 01:21:10,574 But it was necessary. 1711 01:21:10,657 --> 01:21:13,034 The university should've protected us more. 1712 01:21:13,743 --> 01:21:15,537 They knew what was going on. 1713 01:21:16,037 --> 01:21:17,914 So, I contacted our attorneys. 1714 01:21:17,998 --> 01:21:20,333 I said, "What do I have to do?" 1715 01:21:20,417 --> 01:21:23,003 Dozens of men have come forward 1716 01:21:23,086 --> 01:21:26,214 and sued The Ohio State University over sexual abuse allegations 1717 01:21:26,298 --> 01:21:28,592 against a former school doctor. 1718 01:21:29,759 --> 01:21:32,345 And that unleashed the other major difference 1719 01:21:32,429 --> 01:21:33,847 between this case 1720 01:21:33,930 --> 01:21:36,349 and the Nassar gymnast survivors. 1721 01:21:45,025 --> 01:21:47,861 People could not wrap their brains around it. 1722 01:21:49,863 --> 01:21:52,073 How could these grain-fed tough guys... 1723 01:21:52,157 --> 01:21:55,952 How in the world could they be the victims 1724 01:21:56,036 --> 01:21:57,454 of sexual assault? 1725 01:22:02,042 --> 01:22:04,085 These were wrestlers. 1726 01:22:05,462 --> 01:22:07,130 And not just wrestlers. 1727 01:22:07,213 --> 01:22:08,840 Mark Coleman! 1728 01:22:08,924 --> 01:22:11,676 I mean, Mark Coleman was the baddest of the badass. 1729 01:22:12,677 --> 01:22:14,846 He was a terrific wrestler at Ohio State, 1730 01:22:14,930 --> 01:22:16,222 won a national title. 1731 01:22:16,890 --> 01:22:20,185 And then after this absolutely gilded wrestling career, 1732 01:22:20,268 --> 01:22:22,604 he pivots to mixed martial arts. 1733 01:22:22,687 --> 01:22:24,648 He was this very prominent fighter. 1734 01:22:24,731 --> 01:22:26,942 "Ground and Pound" was his trademark 1735 01:22:27,025 --> 01:22:29,110 as a UFC fighter. What did that mean? 1736 01:22:29,778 --> 01:22:31,237 You'd wrestle the guy to the ground 1737 01:22:31,321 --> 01:22:33,448 and you'd beat the shit out of him. 1738 01:22:33,531 --> 01:22:35,241 Coleman is this physical beast. 1739 01:22:35,825 --> 01:22:39,746 So how could this guy be a victim to someone like Strauss? 1740 01:22:41,247 --> 01:22:44,834 I was very, very nervous about this whole thing. 1741 01:22:44,960 --> 01:22:48,797 I wanted Ohio State to hold themselves accountable 1742 01:22:48,838 --> 01:22:51,424 to make sure this doesn't happen again. 1743 01:22:53,134 --> 01:22:55,845 But everybody is telling us to go kick rocks. 1744 01:22:56,721 --> 01:22:59,933 So, who could we go to that could help us with this? 1745 01:23:04,604 --> 01:23:07,357 I present to you Russ Hellickson. 1746 01:23:08,024 --> 01:23:09,275 Well-deserved. 1747 01:23:09,359 --> 01:23:11,653 Russ. My relationship with him 1748 01:23:11,736 --> 01:23:13,321 is so cherished. 1749 01:23:13,405 --> 01:23:15,240 As a wrestling coach, 1750 01:23:15,323 --> 01:23:17,325 I have three daughters 1751 01:23:17,409 --> 01:23:19,786 and over 500 sons. 1752 01:23:22,372 --> 01:23:24,124 Russ was like family. 1753 01:23:24,207 --> 01:23:25,750 He was like a second father to me. 1754 01:23:26,668 --> 01:23:29,004 And so I text Russ a long text message. 1755 01:23:29,671 --> 01:23:32,590 Just, "Hey, look, we need you." 1756 01:23:32,674 --> 01:23:34,884 And within an hour, I got a response. 1757 01:23:40,849 --> 01:23:42,392 About 20 of us met 1758 01:23:42,475 --> 01:23:43,977 over at one of the local high schools 1759 01:23:44,060 --> 01:23:46,104 that one of the wrestlers work at. 1760 01:23:46,187 --> 01:23:47,897 And we sat in a room with him 1761 01:23:47,981 --> 01:23:49,941 and we went around, each individual, 1762 01:23:50,025 --> 01:23:53,153 and told exactly what happened to us. 1763 01:23:53,945 --> 01:23:55,947 Everybody said their piece. 1764 01:23:56,781 --> 01:23:57,782 It was emotional. 1765 01:23:58,867 --> 01:24:01,077 It got to my turn, 1766 01:24:01,202 --> 01:24:03,621 and I asked him, I said, "Do you remember 1767 01:24:03,705 --> 01:24:05,040 when I came into your office 1768 01:24:05,165 --> 01:24:07,876 and I said, 'I'm done. I'm out'?" 1769 01:24:07,959 --> 01:24:09,210 He said, "Yeah, I do." 1770 01:24:09,335 --> 01:24:10,962 I said, "I never told you why. 1771 01:24:11,588 --> 01:24:12,797 This is why." 1772 01:24:13,381 --> 01:24:15,300 You just saw him open up 1773 01:24:15,383 --> 01:24:16,843 and start to sympathize 1774 01:24:16,926 --> 01:24:19,220 and understand what had happened. 1775 01:24:22,599 --> 01:24:24,559 At the end of that meeting, 1776 01:24:24,642 --> 01:24:26,352 he said he would write a letter 1777 01:24:26,436 --> 01:24:28,188 to whoever he needs to write a letter to 1778 01:24:28,271 --> 01:24:29,522 in support of us. 1779 01:24:30,190 --> 01:24:31,608 That's what we needed. 1780 01:24:31,691 --> 01:24:33,193 We needed reassurance. 1781 01:24:33,276 --> 01:24:35,862 We walked out like we were family. 1782 01:24:39,324 --> 01:24:41,159 And, of course, we turned to Jimmy, 1783 01:24:41,284 --> 01:24:43,286 our former assistant coach. 1784 01:24:43,369 --> 01:24:46,206 Things had changed a bit for him since OSU. 1785 01:24:46,289 --> 01:24:47,791 Ladies and gentlemen, 1786 01:24:47,874 --> 01:24:50,960 please welcome Congressman Jim Jordan. 1787 01:24:53,505 --> 01:24:55,256 Thank you. Very kind. 1788 01:24:56,549 --> 01:24:58,718 Jim Jordan's now a prominent figure 1789 01:24:58,802 --> 01:25:01,513 in the Republican Party for the House of Representatives, 1790 01:25:01,596 --> 01:25:03,765 always on news and media outlets. 1791 01:25:03,848 --> 01:25:05,767 Congressman Jordan, great to have you. 1792 01:25:07,727 --> 01:25:09,312 I don't agree with his politics 1793 01:25:09,395 --> 01:25:12,732 but I still was proud of him as my college coach. 1794 01:25:13,316 --> 01:25:15,610 He had ideals 1795 01:25:15,693 --> 01:25:17,362 and he had honor. 1796 01:25:17,946 --> 01:25:20,573 Discipline is doing what you don't want to do 1797 01:25:20,657 --> 01:25:22,367 when you don't want to do it. 1798 01:25:22,450 --> 01:25:24,202 Doing things the right way 1799 01:25:24,285 --> 01:25:26,246 when you'd rather do 'em the convenient way. 1800 01:25:26,329 --> 01:25:29,124 Your experts knew the truth. Your spokesperson knew. 1801 01:25:29,207 --> 01:25:31,626 But what troubles me more is I think you knew the truth. 1802 01:25:31,751 --> 01:25:32,919 He was a pit bull. 1803 01:25:33,044 --> 01:25:35,213 And so, I figured 1804 01:25:35,296 --> 01:25:37,757 that why in the hell wouldn't this guy 1805 01:25:37,841 --> 01:25:39,926 step up for us, you know? 1806 01:25:40,009 --> 01:25:42,262 -Did you remember Dr. Strauss? -Yeah. 1807 01:25:42,846 --> 01:25:45,431 You know, knew-knew, uh, the doctor. 1808 01:25:45,515 --> 01:25:46,850 And Jim Jordan didn't. 1809 01:25:46,933 --> 01:25:48,852 But there is no truth to the fact 1810 01:25:48,935 --> 01:25:51,271 that-that I knew of any abuse. 1811 01:25:51,354 --> 01:25:53,565 Uh, or I've talked to other coaches, 1812 01:25:53,648 --> 01:25:55,024 they didn't know of any abuse. 1813 01:25:55,108 --> 01:25:56,609 Um, it just-- there just-- 1814 01:25:56,693 --> 01:25:58,403 That's just not accurate to say those things. 1815 01:25:58,486 --> 01:25:59,904 That we knew of it and didn't report it 1816 01:25:59,988 --> 01:26:01,489 is just not true. 1817 01:26:02,240 --> 01:26:04,159 There's no way that he didn't know. 1818 01:26:04,742 --> 01:26:06,911 Did he know something? Everybody knew something. 1819 01:26:06,995 --> 01:26:08,538 So, do I think he knew? 1820 01:26:08,663 --> 01:26:09,914 I think everybody knew. 1821 01:26:09,998 --> 01:26:11,624 Did it make me angry? Yes. 1822 01:26:11,708 --> 01:26:13,710 How do you characterize the accusations 1823 01:26:13,793 --> 01:26:16,004 against Strauss, uh, against him? 1824 01:26:16,087 --> 01:26:18,047 Um, you know... 1825 01:26:18,673 --> 01:26:20,592 All I know is I never knew of any abuse 1826 01:26:20,675 --> 01:26:22,552 from Dr. Strauss, plain and simple. 1827 01:26:23,344 --> 01:26:26,389 To say that he knew nothing, that nothing ever happened, 1828 01:26:26,472 --> 01:26:29,601 it's a flat-out lie. It is a flat-out lie. 1829 01:26:29,684 --> 01:26:32,061 We are now joined by Congressman Jordan. 1830 01:26:32,145 --> 01:26:34,772 The first time dealing with all of this in detail. 1831 01:26:34,856 --> 01:26:37,275 Your reaction, first, to all of this. 1832 01:26:37,358 --> 01:26:39,444 The guys that are saying this thing, 1833 01:26:39,527 --> 01:26:41,154 I know they know the truth. 1834 01:26:41,237 --> 01:26:42,322 I know they do. 1835 01:26:42,405 --> 01:26:44,115 I never saw, never heard of, 1836 01:26:44,199 --> 01:26:46,451 never was told about any type of abuse. 1837 01:26:46,576 --> 01:26:48,369 -If I had been... - I know for a fact 1838 01:26:48,453 --> 01:26:50,580 how many conversations that Jimmy's had 1839 01:26:50,663 --> 01:26:52,332 about Dr. Strauss. 1840 01:26:52,415 --> 01:26:54,542 Conversations in the locker room are a lot different 1841 01:26:54,626 --> 01:26:57,253 than someone coming up to you and saying there was abuse. 1842 01:26:57,337 --> 01:26:59,172 So did you hear it in the locker room? 1843 01:26:59,255 --> 01:27:01,090 No. We did not hear that. 1844 01:27:01,174 --> 01:27:03,593 -'Cause if we had... -Something short of abuse 1845 01:27:03,676 --> 01:27:06,012 that-that-that may be considered abuse now 1846 01:27:06,095 --> 01:27:08,598 -in this current time? -Did not. Did not. 1847 01:27:08,681 --> 01:27:10,725 I wasn't beside Jim in his locker room, 1848 01:27:10,808 --> 01:27:13,311 so I don't know what he knew, 1849 01:27:13,394 --> 01:27:15,188 but I knew what he said to me, 1850 01:27:15,271 --> 01:27:16,940 and that's why I knew he knew, 1851 01:27:17,023 --> 01:27:19,901 'cause when he said, "It's Strauss, you know that," 1852 01:27:19,984 --> 01:27:23,279 that told me-- he couldn't have said that without knowing 1853 01:27:23,363 --> 01:27:25,573 what Strauss was and who he was. 1854 01:27:25,698 --> 01:27:26,950 That's why. 1855 01:27:28,868 --> 01:27:31,579 And maybe Jimmy thought it was just gonna go away. 1856 01:27:31,663 --> 01:27:33,248 -And it didn't. -Jim Jordan denies 1857 01:27:33,331 --> 01:27:36,292 any wrongdoing in that OSU wrestling case, 1858 01:27:36,376 --> 01:27:39,087 but the controversy, the scandal, has not abated. 1859 01:27:39,170 --> 01:27:41,130 Instead, people perked up 1860 01:27:41,214 --> 01:27:43,258 and then it became a big deal. 1861 01:27:43,341 --> 01:27:45,093 Representative Jim Jordan 1862 01:27:45,176 --> 01:27:46,928 has been accused of covering up sexual abuse. 1863 01:27:47,011 --> 01:27:49,055 Jim Jordan has said in response... 1864 01:27:49,138 --> 01:27:52,225 Jim Jordan, who was a wrestling coach at the time... 1865 01:27:52,308 --> 01:27:54,602 They talked to Jordan about it and he didn't do anything. 1866 01:27:54,686 --> 01:27:56,980 Once it got legs and it started going, 1867 01:27:57,063 --> 01:28:00,650 more people came out and said, "Yes, this is what happened. 1868 01:28:00,733 --> 01:28:03,444 Absolutely, this is what-- This is my experience." 1869 01:28:03,528 --> 01:28:06,155 Tonight, more former Buckeye wrestlers are coming forward. 1870 01:28:06,239 --> 01:28:08,533 -More victims coming forward. -University announced today... 1871 01:28:08,616 --> 01:28:11,286 There was a thought that it was the tip of the iceberg. 1872 01:28:12,287 --> 01:28:14,539 And that's when Jordan started calling everybody. 1873 01:28:15,999 --> 01:28:18,543 He actually started calling all the wrestlers. 1874 01:28:18,668 --> 01:28:20,628 Even called Adam DiSabato, 1875 01:28:20,712 --> 01:28:22,588 Mike DiSabato's brother. 1876 01:28:23,131 --> 01:28:24,632 Eight in the morning, 1877 01:28:24,716 --> 01:28:26,384 and my phone starts blowing up. 1878 01:28:27,510 --> 01:28:28,970 And I answer it, and he's like, 1879 01:28:29,053 --> 01:28:30,680 "Hey, Adam, this is Jim Jordan." 1880 01:28:30,763 --> 01:28:32,056 I'm like... 1881 01:28:33,558 --> 01:28:35,643 He was talking to me for a half hour 1882 01:28:35,727 --> 01:28:38,062 about if I'll come out publicly, 1883 01:28:38,146 --> 01:28:41,232 defend him and say this isn't true. 1884 01:28:41,899 --> 01:28:44,360 He's literally crying on the phone. 1885 01:28:46,321 --> 01:28:49,365 He don't give a fuck about me or none of us. 1886 01:28:49,449 --> 01:28:51,075 And he's wanting me to defend him 1887 01:28:51,159 --> 01:28:52,744 against my fucking brother. 1888 01:28:57,332 --> 01:28:59,792 I mean, that's insane. 1889 01:29:03,171 --> 01:29:05,923 And I figured that Jimmy's probably talking 1890 01:29:05,965 --> 01:29:07,675 to Russ too. 1891 01:29:07,759 --> 01:29:09,177 And, sure enough, 1892 01:29:09,260 --> 01:29:11,179 Russ disappeared into silence. 1893 01:29:11,846 --> 01:29:13,890 He never wrote any letter. 1894 01:29:13,973 --> 01:29:16,184 He didn't offer any support. 1895 01:29:16,267 --> 01:29:18,436 He completely turned his back on us. 1896 01:29:19,270 --> 01:29:22,273 I propped him up on a pedestal like he was my dad, 1897 01:29:22,357 --> 01:29:24,525 and-and... 1898 01:29:24,609 --> 01:29:25,610 it sucks. 1899 01:29:26,986 --> 01:29:29,697 Russ said he'd be there standing up for us, 1900 01:29:29,781 --> 01:29:32,742 and he took a different tack. 1901 01:29:34,118 --> 01:29:36,245 I tried for a very long time 1902 01:29:36,329 --> 01:29:39,332 to get a one-on-one interview with Congressman Jordan, 1903 01:29:39,415 --> 01:29:42,168 and his office would not set that up. 1904 01:29:42,251 --> 01:29:44,837 So I found out that he was going to be 1905 01:29:44,921 --> 01:29:48,007 at the Honda plant, and I showed up. 1906 01:29:48,091 --> 01:29:49,967 Athletes like Dan Ritchie says 1907 01:29:50,051 --> 01:29:52,970 Dr. Strauss had a locker two down from yours. 1908 01:29:53,054 --> 01:29:55,098 How were you not aware that he was in there 1909 01:29:55,181 --> 01:29:57,225 taking a shower every day 1910 01:29:57,308 --> 01:29:59,519 and pleasuring himself in front of these students, 1911 01:29:59,602 --> 01:30:01,229 when they all knew about it? 1912 01:30:01,729 --> 01:30:03,439 I guess he seemed resentful 1913 01:30:03,523 --> 01:30:05,691 that he was being questioned about this. 1914 01:30:05,775 --> 01:30:07,652 This is ridiculous. I've stood up to the-- 1915 01:30:07,735 --> 01:30:09,570 to the FBI, I've stood up to the IRS. 1916 01:30:09,654 --> 01:30:11,280 So if I think-- if I thought 1917 01:30:11,364 --> 01:30:13,241 there was something wrong or if I knew there was 1918 01:30:13,324 --> 01:30:15,410 something wrong happening, I would've stood up for 'em. 1919 01:30:15,493 --> 01:30:17,495 -You didn't see anything? -That's why every-- 1920 01:30:17,620 --> 01:30:20,581 No, I did not. And that's why every single coach and... 1921 01:30:20,665 --> 01:30:23,668 "No one ever told me. I had no idea. 1922 01:30:23,751 --> 01:30:25,461 Nope, that never happened." 1923 01:30:26,462 --> 01:30:29,799 And then came the bombshell of May. 1924 01:30:30,466 --> 01:30:32,593 Uh, good afternoon. Today, I want to provide 1925 01:30:32,677 --> 01:30:34,429 some, uh, comments and thoughts 1926 01:30:34,512 --> 01:30:38,516 on the report issued Friday by Ohio State University 1927 01:30:38,599 --> 01:30:40,226 regarding, um, 1928 01:30:40,309 --> 01:30:43,020 the situation with the late Dr. Richard Strauss. 1929 01:30:43,771 --> 01:30:46,691 The yearlong independent investigation 1930 01:30:46,774 --> 01:30:50,736 that OSU had paid for was finally released. 1931 01:30:50,820 --> 01:30:52,447 This investigation 1932 01:30:52,530 --> 01:30:55,199 was a good thing for them to do, 1933 01:30:55,324 --> 01:30:58,077 but the results were so unexpected 1934 01:30:58,202 --> 01:31:01,247 and so deeply troubling. 1935 01:31:02,665 --> 01:31:05,543 The Strauss report detailed acts of sexual abuse 1936 01:31:05,626 --> 01:31:09,464 against at least 177 former students 1937 01:31:09,547 --> 01:31:12,049 between 1978 and 1998, 1938 01:31:12,133 --> 01:31:14,969 and undoubtedly there are many other victims out there 1939 01:31:15,052 --> 01:31:17,305 who have not come forward. 1940 01:31:17,388 --> 01:31:20,308 When you see it all laid out in black and white 1941 01:31:20,391 --> 01:31:22,101 and you see the numbers, 1942 01:31:22,185 --> 01:31:23,811 it just broke my heart. 1943 01:31:25,229 --> 01:31:27,315 I had no clue 1944 01:31:27,398 --> 01:31:29,692 how far the ripple effect had gone. 1945 01:31:29,775 --> 01:31:31,944 I had no clue, and so, 1946 01:31:32,987 --> 01:31:35,156 when I read it, I'm like, "Holy-- holy shit." 1947 01:31:37,408 --> 01:31:38,951 Holy shit. 1948 01:31:39,035 --> 01:31:41,078 I knew our experience, I knew my experience, 1949 01:31:41,162 --> 01:31:42,663 I knew Mike's experience, 1950 01:31:42,747 --> 01:31:44,957 I knew a few other of the guys' experiences. 1951 01:31:45,041 --> 01:31:47,335 I didn't know the extent of those experiences 1952 01:31:47,418 --> 01:31:49,086 nor the scope. 1953 01:31:50,296 --> 01:31:52,757 I read the report from cover to cover, 1954 01:31:53,382 --> 01:31:55,301 and the more I read, 1955 01:31:55,384 --> 01:31:56,677 the more pissed I got. 1956 01:31:58,846 --> 01:32:01,849 We should all be disgusted. 1957 01:32:03,100 --> 01:32:05,686 The complaints and reports about this sexual abuse 1958 01:32:05,770 --> 01:32:08,272 were not reported to higher authorities 1959 01:32:08,356 --> 01:32:10,233 by the athletic department 1960 01:32:10,316 --> 01:32:13,027 or Ohio State University's Student Health Center 1961 01:32:13,110 --> 01:32:15,071 until 1996, 1962 01:32:15,154 --> 01:32:18,783 more than 15 years after the first reports 1963 01:32:18,866 --> 01:32:21,202 were, in fact, received. 1964 01:32:21,327 --> 01:32:25,289 The most startling thing was just how many people 1965 01:32:25,373 --> 01:32:27,875 who were in a position to stop it 1966 01:32:28,000 --> 01:32:29,752 knew about it and did nothing. 1967 01:32:29,877 --> 01:32:31,629 An independent report found 1968 01:32:31,671 --> 01:32:33,673 that Ohio State University had knowledge 1969 01:32:33,756 --> 01:32:35,925 that a doctor sexually abused students 1970 01:32:36,008 --> 01:32:38,094 dating as far back as the late '70s. 1971 01:32:38,177 --> 01:32:40,888 The report found Strauss's behavior was 1972 01:32:40,972 --> 01:32:43,891 an "open secret" to more than 50 staff members 1973 01:32:43,975 --> 01:32:46,644 in Ohio State's athletic department. 1974 01:32:46,727 --> 01:32:48,521 They were aware, 1975 01:32:48,604 --> 01:32:50,106 and they covered it up. 1976 01:32:50,189 --> 01:32:52,275 They covered it up. 1977 01:32:53,693 --> 01:32:55,570 It's truly amazing 1978 01:32:55,653 --> 01:32:58,823 how many people had to look the other way 1979 01:32:58,906 --> 01:33:01,367 for him to get away with this that long. 1980 01:33:04,495 --> 01:33:06,080 ...the OSU investigation, 1981 01:33:06,163 --> 01:33:07,707 the allegations could affect your run? 1982 01:33:07,790 --> 01:33:09,083 Anyone can see through that story. 1983 01:33:09,166 --> 01:33:10,418 I've talked to numerous colleagues 1984 01:33:10,543 --> 01:33:11,961 and they can all see through that. 1985 01:33:12,044 --> 01:33:13,629 Are you concerned at all? 1986 01:33:13,713 --> 01:33:15,256 The congressman said again 1987 01:33:15,339 --> 01:33:17,174 he has denied ever knowing 1988 01:33:17,258 --> 01:33:18,426 about this abuse, denied... 1989 01:33:18,509 --> 01:33:19,969 Jim Jordan's a coward. 1990 01:33:21,304 --> 01:33:22,513 He's a coward. 1991 01:33:22,597 --> 01:33:23,973 He's not a leader. 1992 01:33:24,056 --> 01:33:25,224 He's a coward. 1993 01:33:26,142 --> 01:33:27,852 He abandoned us. 1994 01:33:27,935 --> 01:33:29,604 Our head coach abandoned us. 1995 01:33:30,479 --> 01:33:32,106 This is disgusting. 1996 01:33:35,359 --> 01:33:39,030 I saw Russ at a wrestling event, and he walked in. 1997 01:33:39,113 --> 01:33:41,282 He's that, you know, that presence. 1998 01:33:41,365 --> 01:33:42,783 And he goes, "Hey, Fred, how are you?" 1999 01:33:42,867 --> 01:33:44,285 I shook his hand, I said, "Hey, Russ. 2000 01:33:44,368 --> 01:33:46,495 Russ, when are you gonna tell the truth?" 2001 01:33:47,455 --> 01:33:48,748 Yeah. And he just stopped. 2002 01:33:48,831 --> 01:33:50,249 He goes, "Fred, I'm not going there." 2003 01:33:50,333 --> 01:33:52,043 He goes, "But you have a good day." 2004 01:33:52,168 --> 01:33:54,003 And he... he walked away, 2005 01:33:54,086 --> 01:33:56,047 and I haven't talked to him since. 2006 01:33:59,050 --> 01:34:00,926 You know, early on, when this came out, 2007 01:34:01,010 --> 01:34:03,220 I had an opportunity to speak to the media 2008 01:34:03,304 --> 01:34:04,889 and I didn't choose to, 2009 01:34:04,972 --> 01:34:06,724 and I-I finally chose to 2010 01:34:06,807 --> 01:34:08,851 because Russ didn't. 2011 01:34:09,685 --> 01:34:11,520 Um, Jim Jordan didn't. 2012 01:34:12,104 --> 01:34:13,731 And, you know, the people that you thought 2013 01:34:13,814 --> 01:34:15,149 would be there standing up for you, 2014 01:34:16,692 --> 01:34:17,777 they didn't. 2015 01:34:17,860 --> 01:34:19,278 And so I-I decided 2016 01:34:19,362 --> 01:34:21,197 that I was gonna say something. 2017 01:34:21,280 --> 01:34:23,616 And I did it at the Board of Trustees meeting. 2018 01:34:23,699 --> 01:34:25,534 I didn't want to go to the newspaper. 2019 01:34:25,618 --> 01:34:27,828 I didn't want to say anything. I felt this would be the place 2020 01:34:27,912 --> 01:34:30,456 because I care about Ohio State. 2021 01:34:30,539 --> 01:34:32,041 I am someone... 2022 01:34:50,726 --> 01:34:52,561 I bleed scarlet and gray. 2023 01:34:56,315 --> 01:34:59,110 The best time of my life was to wrestle for the Buckeyes. 2024 01:35:00,528 --> 01:35:01,821 I've been seeing things 2025 01:35:01,904 --> 01:35:03,864 that have been written on social media. 2026 01:35:03,989 --> 01:35:06,075 I almost feel like I'm not a victim, 2027 01:35:06,909 --> 01:35:08,744 I was the problem. 2028 01:35:08,869 --> 01:35:11,372 I'm not the problem. We weren't the problem. 2029 01:35:12,081 --> 01:35:13,124 Some... 2030 01:35:14,208 --> 01:35:15,751 bad man was the problem. 2031 01:35:15,835 --> 01:35:18,671 And we just want you guys 2032 01:35:18,754 --> 01:35:20,089 to do the right thing 2033 01:35:20,172 --> 01:35:21,632 so we can move on. 2034 01:35:22,216 --> 01:35:24,260 I appreciate you guys giving us the time 2035 01:35:24,343 --> 01:35:25,511 to come up here and speak. 2036 01:35:27,388 --> 01:35:28,723 Mike Schyck 2037 01:35:29,598 --> 01:35:31,475 said, "I'm coming up there and I'm talking 2038 01:35:31,559 --> 01:35:33,978 to the Board of Trustees." 2039 01:35:34,061 --> 01:35:35,563 I'm like, "Okay. 2040 01:35:35,646 --> 01:35:37,940 All right. I'm with you. I'll do it too." 2041 01:35:38,649 --> 01:35:41,444 And I got up there and I told my story. 2042 01:35:42,278 --> 01:35:43,988 Between the fall of 1988 2043 01:35:44,947 --> 01:35:46,991 until the fall of 1992, 2044 01:35:47,116 --> 01:35:49,827 I was subjected to a sexual predator 2045 01:35:49,952 --> 01:35:52,121 under the guise of a team doctor 2046 01:35:52,204 --> 01:35:54,582 in the employ of this university. 2047 01:35:55,541 --> 01:35:57,126 And based on your own report, 2048 01:35:57,251 --> 01:35:58,753 this university knew. 2049 01:35:58,836 --> 01:36:00,755 It knew prior to my enrollment 2050 01:36:00,838 --> 01:36:02,131 and it knew after. 2051 01:36:03,716 --> 01:36:07,428 We were let down by this university before, 2052 01:36:07,511 --> 01:36:09,054 and ultimately, it's your decision 2053 01:36:09,138 --> 01:36:11,390 on how you proceed from here. 2054 01:36:11,474 --> 01:36:13,601 So I leave you with this question: 2055 01:36:14,310 --> 01:36:17,438 Are you going to let us down again or do the right thing? 2056 01:36:17,521 --> 01:36:18,731 I thank you. 2057 01:36:20,274 --> 01:36:22,735 Rest assured that this board is not dismissing you. 2058 01:36:22,818 --> 01:36:24,028 MICHAEL GASSER CHAIRMAN, OSU BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2012 - 2019 2059 01:36:24,111 --> 01:36:26,030 We're committed to doing the right thing. 2060 01:36:27,323 --> 01:36:30,743 In public, OSU expresses contrition. 2061 01:36:30,826 --> 01:36:34,038 We at The Ohio State University are deeply sorry 2062 01:36:34,121 --> 01:36:37,082 for Strauss's abuse decades ago. 2063 01:36:37,166 --> 01:36:38,876 This was reprehensible, 2064 01:36:38,959 --> 01:36:42,379 and the university's failure to act at the time is inexcusable. 2065 01:36:45,090 --> 01:36:46,884 We acknowledge the university's failures 2066 01:36:46,967 --> 01:36:49,220 during Strauss's time at Ohio State. 2067 01:36:49,303 --> 01:36:52,515 But this was manipulation, lying, and deceit. 2068 01:36:52,598 --> 01:36:54,391 Behind the scenes, 2069 01:36:54,475 --> 01:36:57,728 they begin fighting us tooth and nail. 2070 01:37:00,689 --> 01:37:03,526 Ohio State, while professing to do the right thing, 2071 01:37:03,609 --> 01:37:05,611 actually moves to dismiss the entire case 2072 01:37:05,694 --> 01:37:07,404 on statute of limitations grounds. 2073 01:37:07,488 --> 01:37:09,031 Under Ohio law, 2074 01:37:09,114 --> 01:37:10,991 you have two years to bring a lawsuit. 2075 01:37:11,075 --> 01:37:13,327 It happened more than two years ago, 2076 01:37:13,452 --> 01:37:15,246 therefore you're out of luck. 2077 01:37:16,121 --> 01:37:18,582 The statute of limitations defense is 2078 01:37:18,666 --> 01:37:21,293 sort of the last refuge of scoundrels 2079 01:37:21,377 --> 01:37:22,711 in sexual abuse cases. 2080 01:37:24,046 --> 01:37:26,048 We've seen it from the Catholic Church. 2081 01:37:26,131 --> 01:37:28,092 We've seen it from the Boy Scouts. 2082 01:37:28,175 --> 01:37:30,678 We see this from all sorts of organizations 2083 01:37:30,761 --> 01:37:33,430 that are trying to avoid accountability. 2084 01:37:34,014 --> 01:37:36,350 And that's OSU's defense. 2085 01:37:36,433 --> 01:37:39,270 Basically, we were so successful 2086 01:37:39,353 --> 01:37:41,981 in hiding Dr. Strauss's abuse 2087 01:37:42,064 --> 01:37:44,275 that it's too late for you now to sue us. 2088 01:37:45,526 --> 01:37:48,362 Shock and anger from hundreds of plaintiffs 2089 01:37:48,445 --> 01:37:49,780 who have objected 2090 01:37:49,864 --> 01:37:51,699 to the university's request 2091 01:37:51,782 --> 01:37:53,909 that their lawsuit be dismissed 2092 01:37:54,034 --> 01:37:56,537 based on the statute of limitations. 2093 01:37:56,620 --> 01:37:59,123 I think when their own study revealed 2094 01:37:59,206 --> 01:38:02,585 just how many people were involved 2095 01:38:02,668 --> 01:38:05,713 and just how big this problem was, 2096 01:38:05,754 --> 01:38:07,006 they panicked. 2097 01:38:07,548 --> 01:38:09,216 It was a devastating report, 2098 01:38:09,300 --> 01:38:10,801 and as we now know, 2099 01:38:10,885 --> 01:38:13,178 the 177 survivors 2100 01:38:13,262 --> 01:38:16,765 was a very small fraction of the true number. 2101 01:38:17,349 --> 01:38:18,851 It's in the thousands. 2102 01:38:20,227 --> 01:38:21,812 It's mind-boggling. 2103 01:38:23,314 --> 01:38:27,776 It was a total and complete cover-up 2104 01:38:27,860 --> 01:38:30,362 at the highest levels of the university. 2105 01:38:31,363 --> 01:38:32,907 I mean, if there's one thing 2106 01:38:32,990 --> 01:38:34,992 OSU is good at, 2107 01:38:35,075 --> 01:38:36,994 other than football, 2108 01:38:37,119 --> 01:38:38,662 it's deceit. 2109 01:38:41,665 --> 01:38:44,919 Their strategy was, "We are going to say, 2110 01:38:45,044 --> 01:38:46,670 'You waited too long.'" 2111 01:38:46,754 --> 01:38:48,839 But what they didn't count on 2112 01:38:48,923 --> 01:38:51,759 was a federal judge taking a look at this 2113 01:38:51,842 --> 01:38:54,803 and saying, "The survivors are right. 2114 01:38:54,887 --> 01:38:58,515 Ohio State actively tried to hide this. 2115 01:38:58,599 --> 01:39:01,852 They protected this predator." 2116 01:39:03,812 --> 01:39:08,025 And they struck down OSU's statute of limitations defense. 2117 01:39:08,651 --> 01:39:11,320 And suddenly, I think some powerful people 2118 01:39:11,403 --> 01:39:12,446 got nervous. 2119 01:39:13,197 --> 01:39:15,699 New at 11, The Ohio State University today 2120 01:39:15,783 --> 01:39:17,660 notified a federal district court 2121 01:39:17,785 --> 01:39:20,079 of its intention to set up what it's calling 2122 01:39:20,162 --> 01:39:22,998 the Strauss Individual Settlement Program, 2123 01:39:23,123 --> 01:39:25,584 bringing an end to about half the claims 2124 01:39:25,709 --> 01:39:27,544 filed against the university. 2125 01:39:28,253 --> 01:39:30,965 OSU put forward a pot of money 2126 01:39:31,048 --> 01:39:32,883 for survivors, 2127 01:39:32,967 --> 01:39:35,052 a sum that differed significantly 2128 01:39:35,135 --> 01:39:37,179 from that offered by other universities 2129 01:39:37,262 --> 01:39:40,307 facing their own sexual abuse scandals. 2130 01:39:40,391 --> 01:39:42,851 Penn State, Michigan State, 2131 01:39:42,935 --> 01:39:44,353 have held themselves accountable 2132 01:39:45,187 --> 01:39:46,981 in a way that OSU has not. 2133 01:39:48,983 --> 01:39:52,444 Plainly, OSU is not treating sexual abuse survivors 2134 01:39:52,528 --> 01:39:54,655 the way other universities have. 2135 01:39:55,698 --> 01:39:57,491 Because we were male athletes. 2136 01:39:58,534 --> 01:39:59,785 That's why we're here. 2137 01:40:00,995 --> 01:40:03,163 That's why we're not acknowledged the same way. 2138 01:40:04,373 --> 01:40:06,291 So guys would sit around 2139 01:40:06,417 --> 01:40:08,794 conscious of, "What are we doing 2140 01:40:08,877 --> 01:40:12,339 to male sexual abuse victims if we take this lower number?" 2141 01:40:14,008 --> 01:40:15,634 We could've settled. 2142 01:40:17,886 --> 01:40:19,972 I could've signed the agreement and-and, um, 2143 01:40:20,055 --> 01:40:21,765 and been on my way and said, "Whatever." 2144 01:40:22,641 --> 01:40:24,268 But beyond the low number 2145 01:40:24,351 --> 01:40:26,228 and what that signified, I read in there 2146 01:40:26,311 --> 01:40:28,981 that they were gonna take no accountability 2147 01:40:29,064 --> 01:40:32,484 for what was done at all. 2148 01:40:32,568 --> 01:40:34,445 "We deny any wrongdoing." 2149 01:40:34,528 --> 01:40:36,071 That was written in there. 2150 01:40:36,155 --> 01:40:37,656 It's like, "Really?" 2151 01:40:37,740 --> 01:40:40,117 This is what they call a settlement program. 2152 01:40:40,242 --> 01:40:42,036 That's what they tried to bully us into. 2153 01:40:42,119 --> 01:40:44,204 That sounds like a great deal, OSU. 2154 01:40:44,288 --> 01:40:45,831 But that's not what they tell people. 2155 01:40:45,956 --> 01:40:48,834 They tell people, "Oh, he chose not to settle." 2156 01:40:52,963 --> 01:40:55,049 But, you know, in spite of all this, 2157 01:40:55,090 --> 01:40:57,926 I still want to give olive branches and opportunity 2158 01:40:58,010 --> 01:40:59,887 to, like, make these things right. 2159 01:41:00,846 --> 01:41:04,433 'Cause at the end of the day, we're all Buckeyes. 2160 01:41:04,516 --> 01:41:06,560 We had this feeling that we are here 2161 01:41:06,643 --> 01:41:08,520 to bring your university down. 2162 01:41:09,980 --> 01:41:11,690 We are not here to do that. 2163 01:41:12,316 --> 01:41:14,568 I love this university. 2164 01:41:14,651 --> 01:41:16,320 We can do things great together 2165 01:41:16,403 --> 01:41:19,198 if we can all come back together and if you can make this right. 2166 01:41:21,241 --> 01:41:23,035 So I thank you for your time. 2167 01:41:23,160 --> 01:41:24,244 O-H. 2168 01:41:29,416 --> 01:41:31,376 I said, "O-H." 2169 01:41:31,460 --> 01:41:33,921 And someone's supposed to say, "I-O." 2170 01:41:35,881 --> 01:41:37,091 And they didn't. 2171 01:41:40,219 --> 01:41:42,304 And, like I told you, if you say that to somebody 2172 01:41:42,387 --> 01:41:43,889 and they don't say, "I-O," you're like, 2173 01:41:43,972 --> 01:41:45,432 "You're not a Buckeye." 2174 01:41:47,059 --> 01:41:48,644 You're something different. 2175 01:41:53,148 --> 01:41:55,901 Ohio State still has no understanding 2176 01:41:56,026 --> 01:41:57,778 and has failed to acknowledge 2177 01:41:57,861 --> 01:42:00,656 the actual devastation they have caused 2178 01:42:00,739 --> 01:42:02,741 thousands of men. 2179 01:42:02,825 --> 01:42:03,909 Thousands of men. 2180 01:42:04,868 --> 01:42:06,578 High divorce rates, 2181 01:42:06,662 --> 01:42:08,455 high substance-abuse problems, 2182 01:42:08,539 --> 01:42:10,040 whether it be alcohol or drugs. 2183 01:42:10,124 --> 01:42:12,751 We've had several suicide attempts. 2184 01:42:14,044 --> 01:42:15,629 And I don't know one guy 2185 01:42:15,712 --> 01:42:17,589 that regularly goes to a doctor. 2186 01:42:17,673 --> 01:42:18,674 None of 'em. 2187 01:42:19,466 --> 01:42:20,968 It's really bad. 2188 01:42:25,597 --> 01:42:27,266 You know, you-you-you do think 2189 01:42:27,349 --> 01:42:29,309 about the woulda-been, coulda-been, shoulda-been club 2190 01:42:29,393 --> 01:42:30,686 because you are part of that. 2191 01:42:30,769 --> 01:42:32,646 And that's-- I can't let myself 2192 01:42:32,729 --> 01:42:35,315 go there very often because it-it's not fun. 2193 01:42:39,945 --> 01:42:40,946 Yeah. 2194 01:42:45,784 --> 01:42:47,786 You know, somebody asked one time, they said, 2195 01:42:47,870 --> 01:42:50,330 "Are you a survivor or are you a victim?" 2196 01:42:50,455 --> 01:42:53,000 And they wanted to make that terminology distinct. 2197 01:42:53,125 --> 01:42:55,294 And I had to think about it, and I thought, "You know what, 2198 01:42:55,377 --> 01:42:57,212 I'm a survivor of sexual assault, 2199 01:42:57,296 --> 01:42:58,922 but I'm a victim of OSU." 2200 01:43:12,227 --> 01:43:13,729 Attorneys for the plaintiffs 2201 01:43:13,812 --> 01:43:16,106 believe what OSU really wants to do 2202 01:43:16,190 --> 01:43:18,442 is delay or even block this case 2203 01:43:18,525 --> 01:43:20,736 from going to trial, and OSU... 2204 01:43:20,819 --> 01:43:22,654 If they want to keep spending money 2205 01:43:22,738 --> 01:43:24,948 to fight us in court, then we'll keep going. 2206 01:43:25,032 --> 01:43:27,534 If we have to go another five years, I'll go another five years. 2207 01:43:27,618 --> 01:43:29,036 If we go ten, I'll go another ten. 2208 01:43:31,288 --> 01:43:33,290 Accountability is necessary. 2209 01:43:35,250 --> 01:43:37,419 People ask, "Do you want money out of this?" 2210 01:43:37,544 --> 01:43:40,047 Yeah, you know what, I do, and I'll tell you why. 2211 01:43:40,130 --> 01:43:42,049 You punish somebody, 2212 01:43:42,090 --> 01:43:45,969 you give 'em a $5 fine and say, "Don't do it again," 2213 01:43:46,053 --> 01:43:48,263 they're gonna come back., "$5, that's fine. 2214 01:43:48,347 --> 01:43:50,974 Here, here's $5," and they're gonna do it again. 2215 01:43:51,058 --> 01:43:53,101 You hit 'em where it counts, and that's 2216 01:43:53,185 --> 01:43:55,646 the money that they have to shell out 2217 01:43:55,729 --> 01:43:57,898 because they did not protect 2218 01:43:57,981 --> 01:44:00,525 the athletes they were supposed to protect 2219 01:44:00,609 --> 01:44:02,694 when they brought 'em here to compete for them. 2220 01:44:02,778 --> 01:44:05,405 So, yes, I want them to pay out. 2221 01:44:06,990 --> 01:44:10,911 LEMON BAY HIGH SCHOOL ENGLEWOOD, FLORIDA 2222 01:44:11,662 --> 01:44:13,705 This is my seventh year as coach, 2223 01:44:13,830 --> 01:44:15,290 and I'm a firm believer 2224 01:44:15,415 --> 01:44:17,751 that this sport teaches like no other. 2225 01:44:22,881 --> 01:44:25,259 You build these relationships with these guys 2226 01:44:25,342 --> 01:44:28,720 probably just as solid as a parent to your kid, you know? 2227 01:44:30,889 --> 01:44:33,225 And they get to that point where they trust you. 2228 01:44:33,308 --> 01:44:35,435 And it's so special. 2229 01:44:36,520 --> 01:44:38,563 I can't even fathom 2230 01:44:38,647 --> 01:44:41,733 not being there for my-- my guys. 2231 01:44:43,068 --> 01:44:44,069 Wow. 2232 01:44:52,911 --> 01:44:54,246 In my wrestling room, 2233 01:44:55,122 --> 01:44:59,209 we've got a wall that's got a word, "integrity." 2234 01:45:00,711 --> 01:45:03,005 It's what I preach to my guys. 2235 01:45:04,298 --> 01:45:06,174 It's what truly defines you. 2236 01:45:10,929 --> 01:45:12,389 The Ohio State University is home 2237 01:45:12,472 --> 01:45:15,183 to one of the largest athletic departments in the nation. 2238 01:45:15,267 --> 01:45:18,020 Since 2018, when the survivors of Dr. Strauss filed suit, 2239 01:45:18,103 --> 01:45:22,816 Ohio State’s Department of Athletics has reported total revenue 2240 01:45:22,899 --> 01:45:24,943 of over $1.2 billion. 2241 01:45:36,580 --> 01:45:38,498 Representative Jim Jordan did not respond 2242 01:45:38,582 --> 01:45:41,251 to the filmmakers’ request for an interview. 2243 01:45:41,335 --> 01:45:43,712 Russ Hellickson did not respond 2244 01:45:43,795 --> 01:45:47,674 to the filmmakers’ request for an interview. 2245 01:45:54,014 --> 01:45:57,309 Ohio State declined the filmmakers’ request for an interview 2246 01:45:57,392 --> 01:46:01,521 with a member of their Board of Trustees. 2247 01:46:06,526 --> 01:46:10,364 In March 2023, Ohio State petitioned the Supreme Court to hear their case, 2248 01:46:10,447 --> 01:46:11,990 citing the statute of limitations as their defense. 2249 01:46:12,074 --> 01:46:17,537 In June 2023, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. 2250 01:46:18,705 --> 01:46:21,124 The case was sent back to the District Court 2251 01:46:21,208 --> 01:46:23,043 for further proceedings. 2252 01:46:24,305 --> 01:47:24,888 Watch 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