Thirty-seven former Ohio State athletes filed a lawsuit against the university on Wednesday, alleging sexual abuse by former team doctor Richard Strauss. (Jason Mowry/Getty Images)

Dozens of former Ohio State athletes filed a Title IX lawsuit against the university on Wednesday alleging sexual abuse by former team doctor Richard Strauss, according to USA Today.

Former wrestler Michael DiSabato and 36 other former athletes filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, claiming that Strauss abused them during preseason physicals and when they were treated for injuries, according to the report.

“[Ohio State] maintained a culture of concealment, denial, and unwillingness to investigate sexual abuse and sexual harassment of male athletes at the University,” attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote in the lawsuit, via USA Today.

“This culture led to OSU’s active concealment of and deliberate indifference towards continuous complaints and reports about Strauss’ behavior and the conditions at Larkins Hall. Consequently, Strauss remained hidden in plain sight and continued to abuse Plaintiffs and other patients throughout his career at the University.”

The accusations against Strauss

Strauss retired from Ohio State in 1998 and committed suicide in 2005. An independent investigation into Strauss concluded that he abused at least 177 men in 16 different sports at the university from 1979-1997, and that school officials knew and failed to investigate or stop him.

According to USA Today, multiple athletes reported the abuse to former trainer Billy Hill, who then simply told them that Strauss’ behavior was like “hazing.”

Strauss has been accused of groping, fondling, preforming prolonged and unnecessary genital and rectal examinations, performing unwanted oral sex, requiring unnecessary nudity during exams and making inappropriate comments to patients, among other things. He had also been given the nickname “Dr. Jelly Paws,” reportedly showered with student-athletes and would “loiter in the locker room, where he would watch them dressing and undressing.”

Ohio State did not issue a new statement to USA Today after the lawsuit was filed on Wednesday, but instead referenced back to a public apology from university president Michael Drake that was issued after the independent investigation.

“The findings are shocking and painful to comprehend,” Drake said in a statement earlier this month. “On behalf of the university, we offer our profound regret and sincere apologies to each person who endured Strauss’ abuse.

“Our institution’s fundamental failure at the time to prevent this abuse was unacceptable — as were the inadequate efforts to thoroughly investigate complaints raised by students and staff members.”

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