Ohio State University. Photo: Shutterstock.com

The newly released investigative report on Ohio State University sports doctor Richard Strauss, who is accused of sexually abusing 177 male student athletes, shows that three university in-house lawyers led the charge in 1996 that removed Strauss from practicing in school health clinics.

According to the May 17 report, prepared by independent outside counsel Perkins Coie, it found the doctor's abuse of students on at least 16 sports teams ranged from fondling to complete sex acts, including oral sex. Strauss practiced for nearly two decades at the school.

The investigation also found “that university personnel had knowledge of Strauss' sexually abusive treatment of male student-patients as early as 1979, but that complaints and reports about Strauss' conduct were not elevated beyond the athletics department or student health until 1996.” In one instance in 1994 a fencing coach had refused to allow Strauss to treat team members after two students complained, but Strauss accused the coach of repeating untrue rumors.

In early 1996 three student complaints were handed over to the in-house counsel to investigate. The three Ohio State counsel who took action against Strauss in 1996 included:

• David Williams, a sports and education lawyer who also was professor at the Moritz College of Law and vice president for student affairs.
• Virginia Trethewey, general counsel, who oversaw the investigation and dealt with Strauss and his lawyer.
• Helen Ninos, associate general counsel for human resources, whom Trethewey appointed to work with Williams on the probe.

For their part, the in-house counsel had to dig in after Strauss denied every allegation. He threatened to sue the school and the complaining students. After a disciplinary hearing, Strauss was removed from the athletics department. Strauss' unnamed lawyer called the hearing “a sham,” the report states, and accused the school of proceeding in bad faith.

Strauss claimed he had been treated unfairly in part because of one student's “connections” at the university. The report found Strauss' allegations “baseless.”

The three in-house counsel held their ground on the removal, and Strauss appealed to then Ohio State President Gordon Gee.

In an email cited in the report, Trethewey cut off the appeal process, telling Gee she had prepared a response letter to Strauss and that she did “not want a response to come from the president because he had no need to be involved in this.”

Trethewey remarked that “Strauss just doesn't like the outcome and is looking for a way around it.”

Gee told the current investigators he had “a lot of confidence” in Trethewey and Williams, both of whom he described as “terrific lawyers,” and let them handle the Strauss situation.

Still, the report hints that the school could have done more. It found no criminal charges were ever made against Strauss. It says the School of Public Health “never initiated its own investigation of Strauss; to the contrary, it recommended that Strauss receive an emeritus appointment upon his voluntary retirement from the University in 1998.”

A complaint to the state medical board, which redacted its information from the report, did not result in Strauss losing his license.

After Strauss retired he was able to continue treating student-athletes in his own private practice off campus. Strauss committed suicide in 2005.

University president Michael Drake wrote a May 17 email to the school community calling the report's findings “shocking and painful to comprehend.”

Drake also wrote, “Our institution's fundamental failure at the time to prevent this abuse was unacceptable—as were the inadequate efforts to thoroughly investigate complaints raised by students and staff members.”

Williams went on to become general counsel at Vanderbilt University in 2000, and later became that school's first African American vice chancellor. He died last February at the age of 71.

Trethewey, now 73, became senior vice president of the Ohio State Alumni Association in 2004. She eventually retired and moved to Seattle. She could not be reached for comment. She was replaced as general counsel by Christopher Culley, who did not immediately respond to messages.

The associate general counsel, Ninos, eventually joined the Ohio attorney general's office as head of human resources, but no longer works there. She did not return a message left at her home number.

The three counsel may be gone from Ohio State now, but the Strauss saga continues. The U.S. Department of Education has also opened an investigation into how the school handled the student complaints and whether it complied with federal law. In addition, three groups of plaintiffs have sued the university in cases overseen by U.S. District Judge Michael Watson.

The university has said it is also covering the cost of professionally certified counseling for those affected by Strauss. Ohio State has said it paid $6.2 million for the 13-month investigation and report.