Ohio Politician Accused Of Ignoring Sexual Abuse At Ohio State

COLUMBUS, OH — Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, is being accused of ignoring the sexual abuse of the Ohio State University wrestlers by team doctor Dr. Richard Strauss, NBC News reported. Jordan was an assistant wrestling coach at the school from 1986 to 1994.

“I considered Jim Jordan a friend,” Mike DiSabato, a former Buckeye wrestler, told NBC News. “But at the end of the day, he is absolutely lying if he says he doesn’t know what was going on.”

DiSabato also accused Jordan of asking to be left out of the probe into Strauss. He said the representative asked "me not to get him involved."

Jordan has consistently denied any knowledge of Strauss' alleged misconduct. He told the Columbus Dispatch in May that he never heard anything about abuse, and said the same to NBC News this week.

Allegations against Strauss began to be investigated in April 2018 by officials at Ohio State University. Approximately 150 former student athletes, from at least 14 men's varsity teams, have spoken to investigators, the Columbus Dispatch said.

Dunyasha Yetts, another former wrestler, insisted that he and other wrestlers went to Jordan with accusations against Strauss. He said the future representative from Urbana, Ohio, told him that he would "kill" Strauss if he tried anything with him.

Yetts also said he thought Jordan was a "great guy."

"So it’s sad for me to hear that he’s denying knowing about Strauss," he said. "I don’t know why he would, unless it’s a cover-up. Either you’re in on it, or you’re a liar.”

Perkins Coie, a law firm, has been hired to carry out an independent investigation into Strauss and the allegations against him. It is believed that Jordan will be asked to speak to investigators.

Strauss worked at the university from 1978 until 1998. He died in 2005.

Jordan is the representative from Ohio's 4th District, a winding district that includes parts of 14 different counties. Jordan is the representative for both Oberlin, one of Ohio's most liberal cities, and Urbana, one of Ohio's most rural and conservative areas.

Elected to the U.S. Congress in 2007, Jordan has gained a reputation for his conservative politics. His website touts his fiscal conservatism, frequently targeting government departments for investigation into overspending and fraud. However, his antics also earned the ire of several of his partymembers. Former House Speaker John Boehner, another Ohioans, once called Jordan a "legislative terrorist."

The controversy around Strauss comes on the heels of a scandal at another Big 10 school: Michigan State, where Dr. Larry Nassar, a sports medicine doctor, was accused of molesting more than 150 young women girls in his car.

(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)