Rep. Jim Jordan knew about and shrugged off OSU wrestling sexual abuse, victims say
A new HBO documentary about the alleged cover-up of sexual assaults at Ohio State University by predator Dr. Richard Strauss alleges that Rep. Jim Jordan knew about the abuse at the time and failed to act.
Surviving Ohio State, produced by George Clooney, covers Strauss's tenure at the institution from 1978 to 1998 and alleges that staff, including Jordan, then an assistant wrestling coach at the school, knew about Strauss's conduct but did nothing to prevent it.
Jordan has always denied any knowledge of the matter but declined to be interviewed for the film, as did the university's former wrestling coach, Russ Hellickson, and the Ohio State board of trustees.
The Independent has contacted the congressman for comment.
Dan Ritchie, who wrestled at the university from 1988 to 1992, said in the documentary that the doctor had a reputation for conducting unnecessary genital exams with ungloved hands, earning him mocking nicknames among the student body like 'Dr Fun Boy' and 'Dr Jelly Fingers.'
Ritchie alleges that Jordan, while serving as an assistant wrestling coach, addressed the rumors directly with his athletes, blustering: 'If he ever did that to me, I'd snap his neck like a stick of dry balsa wood.'
Frederick Feeney, a wrestling referee from 1988 to 2024, says that he told Jordan and Hellickson about an incident in which Strauss had joined him in the gymnasium showers and begun masturbating, to which the future congressman allegedly responded dismissively and said: 'It's Strauss, you know what he does.'
'We express our deep regret and apologies to all who experienced Strauss's abuse,' Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson told The Columbus Dispatch.
'We are forever grateful to the survivors who participated in the independent investigation, which could not have been completed without their strength and courage.'
The allegations that Strauss used his position to abuse hundreds of student athletes first emerged in 2018, two decades after he left OSU and 13 years after he died by suicide.
But the State Medical Board of Ohio first became aware of misconduct accusations against Strauss in 1996, initially moving to gather patient records and take action against his medical license before its investigation stalled and was eventually scrapped unresolved in 2002.
The new film interviews students who allege that OSU officials were aware of the complaints but consistently rebuffed or denied them.
OSU ultimately reached settlement agreements with 296 survivors of Strauss's abuse, worth more than a combined $60m. However, the film argues that the amount per person is much lower than that paid out by other institutions accused of enabling comparable abuses.
Damningly, one of the men interviewed for the film, Steve Snyder-Hill, concludes his remarks by saying: 'Somebody asked me one time, they said, 'Are you a survivor or are you a victim?'
'I had to think about that, and I thought, you know what? I'm a survivor of sexual assault, but I'm a victim of OSU.'
The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this month, aired on HBO on Tuesday and is now available to stream via HBO Max.
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