COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Claims about a former Ohio State University doctor allege sexual misconduct not only in his interactions with students and student-athletes but also at the private, off-campus medical office he had later, according to a law firm representing the school amid an independent investigation.
The investigators and the university haven't publicly disclosed details about the allegations involving Dr. Richard Strauss' off-campus medical practice, how those claims came to light or to what extent they are part of the ongoing investigation. The allegations were mentioned without elaboration when the law firm representing Ohio State in the matter updated university officials in early June about the investigation into Strauss, whose death in 2005 was ruled a suicide.
Former student-athletes from more than a dozen Ohio State athletic teams have reported alleged sexual misconduct by Strauss.
The Associated Press hasn't been able to reach or locate relatives of Strauss who could be asked about the allegations.
The university's top officials say they are committed to responsibly, transparently addressing the matter and are grateful to alumni who have come forward with information to aid that endeavor.
As independent investigators look into what happened and what the university knew about the allegations, the school has repeatedly urged anyone with relevant information to contact those investigators from Seattle-based law firm Perkins Coie.
That was reiterated in an email last month to over 100,000 who attended the university from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, when the alleged misconduct occurred, and in an email this week to more than 5,000 student-athletes who were enrolled between 1978 and 2001.
Strauss joined Ohio State's clinical faculty and medical staff in 1978 and worked as a team doctor between 1981 and 1995 and in student health services from 1994 to 1996. He resigned from the medical staff in 1994 but stayed on the faculty until retiring as professor emeritus in 1998, and he had a medical office in Columbus from 1996 to 1998, according to state records.
Reports of alleged misconduct have come from male athletes affiliated with baseball, cheerleading, cross-country, fencing, football, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, track, volleyball and wrestling.
