Former Michigan State University dean William Strampel will go to trial for sexual misconduct at Michigan State University. Strampel was in court for a probable cause hearing Tuesday.
Strampel, the former dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and boss of convicted sex abuser Larry Nassar, was arrested in March. He faces two misdemeanor charges of willful neglect of duty related to the Nassar abuse scandal, fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, and misconduct in office, which is a five-year felony.
The purpose of the hearing was to determine whether there's enough evidence for Strampel to stand trial on the charges. District Court Judge Richard Ball ruled that Strampel will go to court on all four charges.
The attorney general's office presented evidence to Judge Richard Ball, including a number of pornographic photos and videos collected from Strampel's work and personal computers. The judge allowed images from Strampel's work computer to be admitted as evidence, but denied admission of images collected from his home.
Sounds like 19 total photographs from work computer will be admitted.
— Cheyna Roth (@Cheyna_R) June 5, 2018
Two witnesses also testified, including a current MSU student. It's Michigan Radio's policy not to identify victims of alleged sex crimes without their permission.
The student testified that when she was a 26 year old student, she met with Strampel to appeal the results of a test. She says he said things that she interpreted as requests for naked pictures.
“I was, I was very scared. I instantly was, ‘What is going on,’ almost went into a survival mode as there was no one in the room with us, no one in the adjacent room.”
A former student also testified. She claimed she was treated inappropriately during a surgery and was summoned to see Strampel, where he verbally abused her. She also testified that he later groped her on multiple occasions.
Witness received a scholarship and there was a dinner for the winners of various awards. Says she's in a picture in-between Strampel and the donor of her scholarship. Says while posing for picture Strampel grabbed her buttock and held it firmly "like you would a baseball."
— Cheyna Roth (@Cheyna_R) June 5, 2018
In closing arguments, Strampel's defense attorney John Dakmak claimed that as dean, Strampel was not considered a public official and therefore should not face the misconduct in office charge. Dakmak also argued that just because someone said sexual abuse happened doesn't mean it has to be believed.
Dakmak says "Regardless of meetings there was no quid pro quo and no adverse action to any woman. Where's the corrupt conduct?"
— Cheyna Roth (@Cheyna_R) June 5, 2018
The judge ruled against those arguments in favor of the attorney general's office. In the prosecution's argument, assistant attorney general William Rollstin stated that Strampel is not a victim in this case, and that the dean had "too much power, too much ego. He was supposed to protect [his students]. He did not."
This post was updated at 3:30 p.m.
