Former wrestlers from Ohio State University have accused a powerful Republican congressman of turning a blind eye to the recurring sexual abuse of the athletes he coached there more than two decades ago.
The university in April revealed that it was investigating allegations that Dr. Richard Strauss — who died in 2005 — abused athletes while he served as the team doctor from mid-1970s to the late 1990s. He’s accused of sexually assaulting male athletes across 15 different varsity sports teams.
Rep. Jim Jordan, who was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State from 1986 to 1994, has denied knowledge of the potential scandal, but three wrestlers so far have rejected claims that the politician remained unaware until students began coming forward with allegations earlier this year.
Mike DiSaboto — whose allegation kicked off the probe against Strauss — slammed Jordan as a “liar” in an interview with NBC.
“I considered Jim Jordan a friend,” he said. “But at the end of the day, he is absolutely lying if he says he doesn’t know what was going on.”
Before going public with his allegations, the DiSaboto said he reached out to Jordan, who told him to “please leave me out of it.
“He asked me not to get him involved,” he said.
Danyasha Yetts said he personally alerted Jordan to Strauss’ inappropriate behavior.
“I remember I had a thumb injury and went into Strauss’ office and he started pulling down my wrestling shorts,” he recalled. “And I went out and told [then-head coach Russ Hellickson] and Jim what happened. I was not having it. They went in and talked to Strauss.”
Yetts, who confessed to serving 18 months behind bars for an investment scam, acknowledged that he has made his own mistakes in the past, though none of them affect his take on Strauss.
“For God’s sake, Strauss’s locker was right next to Jordan’s and Jordan even said he’d kill him if he tried anything with him,” Yetts told NBC, adding that Jordan was generally well-liked in his coaching days.
“He’s great guy… So it’s sad for me to hear that he’s denying knowing about Strauss. I don’t know why he would, unless it’s a cover-up. Either you’re in on it or a liar.”
A third teammate, who did not wish to be identified told NBC he never discussed the abuse with Jordan, but similarly noted it would have been impossible for him to avoid the rumors “because it was all over the locker room.” He called Jordan’s denial of knowledge “a head-scratcher.”
“Doc used to take showers with the team even though he didn’t go to any workouts, and everybody used to snicker about how you go into his office for a sore shoulder and he tells you to take your pants down.”
Jordan, a founder of the House Freedom Caucus and devoted supporter of President Trump, parroted his denial regarding the abuse again on Tuesday.
“Congressman Jordan never saw any abuse, never heard about any abuse, and never had any abuse reported to him during his time as a Coach at Ohio State,” his spokesperson, Ian Fury, said in a statement.
“He has not been contacted by investigators about the matter but will assist them in any way they ask, because if what is alleged is true, the victims deserve a full investigation and justice.”