Former Medical Dean at Michigan State in Jail for Porn, Sexual Assault

Following the conviction of MSU’s Larry Nassar for sexual abuse, his former boss, William Strampel, is charged with misconduct and possessing videos of female students.

Written byKerry Grens
| 1 min read

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WIKIMEDIA, BRANISLAV ONDRASIKWilliam Strampel, the former dean of Michigan State University’s (MSU) College of Osteopathic Medicine, is in jail after allegedly groping students and keeping pornography on his university computer. The arrest shook out of an investigation at MSU stemming from extensive sexual abuse of athletes perpetrated by Larry Nassar, a sports medicine physician who worked under Strampel, according to the Lansing State Journal.

The Detroit News reports that four women have accused Strampel of misconduct, including groping and suggesting sexual relations in exchange for professional favors.

“There is a reason Larry was able to perpetrate the worst sexual assault scandal in sports and campus history. We are seeing some of these reasons,” Rachael Denhollander, who has accused Nassar of abuse, tells The Detroit News. “We’ve been seeing them for 18 months. MSU continually refuses to acknowledge responsibility for a culture that allowed men like Larry and Strampel to abuse and harass with no consequences.”

Strampel’s attorney denies the accusations, according to the Lansing State Journal.

Among the pornographic videos found on Strampel’s computer was a video of Nassar “performing a ‘treatment’” on a young patient, MLive reports.

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  • kerry grens

    Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.

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