Official from Michigan State University Charged in Connection with Larry Nassar Abuse Case

A Michigan State University official who supervised Larry Nassar is facing criminal charges for inappropriately touching a student and possessing nude photos of students on his work computer in an investigation into the handling of complaints against the former sports doctor, who was sentenced to prison for sexually abusing minors under the guise of treatment.

William Strampel, 70, is the first person besides Nassar to be charged in connection with the worst case of sexual abuse in sports history. Nassar pleaded guilty to abusing patients and possessing child pornography.

Strampel was the dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, which includes a sports medicine clinic, until he announced in December that he was taking a medical leave. On Tuesday, he was charged with criminal sexual conduct, willful neglect of duty, and misconduct by a public official.

Last year, he told the police that he failed to ensure that Nassar followed his orders in 2014 to have a third person present when providing treatment "close to a sensitive area." By allowing Nassar to see patients again, he also said that skin-to-skin contact should be kept to a minimum and had to be explained in detail.

Nassar was fired in 2016 for violating the rule. His dismissal came less than a month after former gymnast Rachael Denhollander filed a criminal complaint, alleging that Nassar sexually abused her with his hands while treating her for back pain.

Strampel told a campus detective and an FBI agent in 2017 that he did not check to see if Nassar was following the rules because the doctor had been "exonerated" in an investigation into a patient complaint and that the imposed guidelines were basic. At least 12 of the sexual abuses occurred after the conclusion of that original investigation, including many in which Nassar made contact without gloves and without a third person present, according to a university police report.