Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Cost of Sexual Abuse: Victims, Schools Take on Settlements
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
July 30, 2019

Share

COLUMBUS, Ohio — One man believes he missed his chance to play in the National Hockey League because he lost focus after being sexually abused by an Ohio State team doctor. Two former wrestlers say they left their sport because of it and delayed finishing their college degrees. A tennis player says he became so leery of medical exams that he lived with months of pain before getting treatment for a benign testicular tumor.
And an alumnus says his experiences with Dr. Richard Strauss gave him panic attacks, upended his dreams of becoming a literature professor, contributed to a troubled marriage and haunted him for over two decades.

“Ohio State allowed something life-changing to happen to us, you know? And what they need to do now is something life-changing in the positive, for a lot of people.” — plaintiff
The men count the cost in the gap between what is and what-ifs — in stunted athletic and academic pursuits, altered careers, physical and mental health issues, and spoiled relationships with their parents or spouses or children. But who puts a price on that fallout, and how?
That’s one of the looming questions as lawsuits against Ohio State by the late doctor’s accusers move through mediation in pursuit of possible settlements, after an investigation for the university found that Strauss sexually abused at least 177 young men between 1979 and 1997 and that school officials heard concerns but didn’t stop him.
Seven lawsuits brought by more than 165 men allege university employees turned a blind eye for years while the doctor fondled health clinic patients and male athletes from a variety of sports under the guise of medical care.
“Ohio State allowed something life-changing to happen to us, you know?” said one plaintiff, the would-be professor. “And what they need to do now is something life-changing in the positive, for a lot of people.”
The Associated Press doesn’t typically identify people who say they are survivors of sexual assault unless they choose to be named.

Shaping a Settlement is ‘Not a Science’

Ohio State acknowledged its failure to prevent abuse by Strauss, apologized publicly and vowed it’s a different university nowadays, with programs and policies to prevent and address sexual misconduct . But that doesn’t guarantee a settlement.
The school argued in legal filings that the accusers’ claims are time-barred by law and should be dismissed, though a spokesman also said Ohio State is “committed to the mediation process.”
The lawyers involved have been tight-lipped about mediation, but other headline-making cases offer clues about what shapes university settlements in cases of widespread sexual misconduct.
Lawyers who mediated most of Penn State’s $109 million in payouts for dozens of claims involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky told reporters they took into account the accusers’ credibility, available evidence and records, the perceived strength of the claims, and details and timing of the alleged abuse.
Different evaluators consider different factors, which also can include a victim’s age and maturity, their trust in a perpetrator, frequency of abuse, effects on their physical and mental health, and any related expenses, said John Manly, a lawyer for many of the female gymnasts who accused now-imprisoned sports doctor Larry Nassar of sexual assault.
“It’s not a science,” Manly said. “There are some people that are abused hundreds of times that will never be the same. There are some people that are abused one time and will never be the same.”
Forensic economists sometimes hired for liability cases say some of the effects on victims can be tallied fairly easily, such as counseling expenses or earnings lost because of impact to their studies or careers.

Emotional, Mental Effects Tougher to Measure

Take the aspiring literature professor from Ohio State, who recalls in detail the last time he saw Strauss. He recounts how the doctor molested him during an exam, and then insisted on giving the dumbfounded student a ride home, bought him fast food on the way, and asked when he got out of the vehicle: What are you going to do?
The man said he never reported Strauss but abandoned plans to attend graduate school at the university and eventually pursued a job in federal law enforcement because he wanted to learn to defend and protect himself and his children. A forensic economist estimated he lost $1.4 million in potential earnings because he took that path instead of getting the doctorate he envisioned, he said.
The emotional and mental effects are tougher to measure. Experts say determining that sort of price tag is often left to a mediator, judge or jury.
If settlements are reached, they can be structured to consider claims individually, or to provide a range of payouts based on various factors.
Patients of a longtime gynecologist who pleaded not guilty to sexual assault charges could get $2,500 to $250,000 under a recent $215 million settlement offer from the University of Southern California . After Michigan State University agreed to pay $500 million for hundreds of claims about Nassar, a former judge working as a mediator evaluated claims, talked with some of the survivors and determined how much each person received. Claims from more people are still pending in both cases.

Strauss Killed Himself in 2005

Unlike those accusers, the Ohio State alumni can’t confront or press charges against their primary culprit. Strauss killed himself in 2005, and no one has publicly defended him since the allegations came to light last year.
That has left one of the nation’s biggest public universities in the hot seat. The pending legal cases pit Strauss’ accusers against what many of them describe as a beloved alma mater; an academic and athletic giant with a $3.7 billion operating budget, not counting its health system; and an even larger pool of investments, including endowments.

“You can’t be a beacon of progressive thought, of Western civilization, of, you know, essentially modern philosophy and then just basically say that if we did something wrong to you, deal with it.” — John Manly, a lawyer for many of the female gymnasts
As both sides weigh their interests, each might find benefit to a settlement that could spare them the costs, time, uncertainty and publicity of a trial at which the abuse would be recounted, said John Culhane, who co-directs of the Family Health Law & Policy Institute at Widener University’s Delaware Law School and isn’t involved in the case.
Ohio State’s values and the essence of being a university also might bend it toward resolving the cases, Manly said.
“You can’t be a beacon of progressive thought, of Western civilization, of, you know, essentially modern philosophy and then just basically say that if we did something wrong to you, deal with it,” he said.
Whatever the outcome, no payout can fully achieve the intent under the law, that whoever is responsible provides compensation to right the wrong and make the injured party “whole,” said Culhane.
“That’s a fiction,” he said. “You can’t really do that. … If a person was sexually abused, nothing is going to make them whole again in that sense, but that’s what we’re striving for.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

DON'T MISS

US House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

DON'T MISS

Convicted Felon Caught With Guns, Ammunition in Fresno Bust

DON'T MISS

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

DON'T MISS

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

DON'T MISS

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

DON'T MISS

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

DON'T MISS

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

DON'T MISS

Wonderdog Still Barking: Justin Wilson Thrives With Boston Red Sox

UP NEXT

Tesla Executive, Elon Musk Confidant Leaves EV Maker, Bloomberg News Reports

UP NEXT

How a Birthday Boat Ride on Lake Tahoe Turned Tragic

UP NEXT

Cuomo Concedes to Mamdani in New York City Democratic Mayoral Contest

UP NEXT

Mamdani Holds Lead Over Cuomo in Democratic Primary for NYC Mayor

UP NEXT

Clovis Man Sentenced to 8 Years in Federal Prison in Deadly Fentanyl Case

UP NEXT

Victims Identified as Death Toll Climbs to 8 in Lake Tahoe Boating Tragedy

UP NEXT

Florida to Build ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center for Migrants in Everglades

UP NEXT

Americans Worry Conflict With Iran Could Escalate, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

UP NEXT

Advisory Warns of ‘Heightened Threat Environment’ in US After Iran Strikes

UP NEXT

Amazon’s Prime Day 2025 Levels Up With Four Days of Deals Starting July 8

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

3 hours ago

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

3 hours ago

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

4 hours ago

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

5 hours ago

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

5 hours ago

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

5 hours ago

Wonderdog Still Barking: Justin Wilson Thrives With Boston Red Sox

6 hours ago

Anna Wintour to Step Down From Vogue Editor-in-Chief Role, Media Reports Say

6 hours ago

Feds Charge Bullard High Teacher With Child Porn, Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

6 hours ago

New Data Clarifies a Lingering Question on 2024 Turnout

6 hours ago

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

WASHINGTON – Hawaiian Airlines said on Thursday that some of its IT systems were disrupted by a hack, adding its flights were operatin...

2 hours ago

Hawaiian Airlines airplanes on the runway at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. April 28, 2020.
2 hours ago

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

A view of Harvard campus on John F. Kennedy Street at Harvard University is pictured in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., December 7, 2023. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

US House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

A convicted felon was arrested in Fresno County after investigators found a rifle, handgun, and ammunition while serving a search warrant. (Fresno PD)
3 hours ago

Convicted Felon Caught With Guns, Ammunition in Fresno Bust

3 hours ago

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

American_Flag_Bitcoin_1280x720
3 hours ago

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

Journalist Bill Moyers delivers the keynote speech at the People for the American Way Foundation's Spirit of Liberty dinner in Beverly Hills September 21, 2004. (Reuters File)
4 hours ago

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

President Donald Trump speaks during a "One Big Beautiful" event at the White House in Washington, DC., U.S., June 26, 2025. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
5 hours ago

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

Clovis police are searching for Surinder Pal, 55, an at-risk man last seen in Fresno, after his car was found abandoned. (Clovis PD)
5 hours ago

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend