Columbus public safety leaders say they were abused by OSU doctor

Another Central Ohio public safety leader has come forward to say he was molested by former Ohio State University doctor Richard Strauss.

Tim Becker is Gahanna’s public safety director and a former deputy chief of the Columbus Police Department. Becker explained former Columbus Fire Chief Jeff Happ’s decision to publicly share his abuse helped encourage him to do so as well.

“As a police leader, I often stood in front of cameras and urged crime victims and witnesses to come forward and share their stories,” Becker said. “I hope my example today inspires others.”

Becker also called for his alma mater to “hold itself accountable and do the right thing.”

“This is the right time, and these are the right reasons,” he said. “Although decades have passed, the wounds have not healed. It’s time to hear the victims and bring closure.”

Strauss and Ohio State

For nearly two decades Dr. Richard Strauss sexually abused patients under the guise of medical care. As a team doctor, many of Strauss’ victims were student athletes, but he is said to have preyed on other students as a physician at Ohio State’s Student Health Center as well.

Strauss was forced out by the university in 1998 but received emeritus status from the school’s board. He died by apparent suicide in 2005.

According to an independent investigation commissioned by the university in 2018, Strauss abused at least 177 male victims during his tenure at the school. But even that figure dramatically underestimates his impact. OSU has already settled with 317 victims. More than 200 others are still pursuing lawsuits against the school.

Earlier this month, Attorney General Dave Yost filed a motion in federal court urging the judge to dismiss 77 of the claims against Ohio State. Yost contends any abuse that occurred before Oct. 21, 1986 — the date Congress passed a law allowing states and universities to be sued for failing to prevent sexual abuse — should be thrown out.

Yost’s motion comes just days after he announced he will resign his post in June to take a job with the right-wing Christian nonprofit law firm Alliance Defending Freedom.

In a statement, OSU spokesman Chris Booker said since 2018, Ohio State has “sincerely and persistently tried to reconcile with survivors, including former football student-athletes, through monetary and non-monetary means, including settlements, counseling services and other medical treatment.”

The settlements so far have topped $61 million, Booker said, “and we remain actively engaged in mediation.”

“All former students who filed lawsuits have been offered the opportunity to settle,” the statement said.

Becker’s decision to share his story

Unlike many of Strauss’ victims, Becker wasn’t a student athlete.

“A rash from cycling led me to the Student Medical Center, where I suffered a sexual assault at the hands of Dr. Strauss,” he said.

“I did not report this crime at the time it occurred,” Becker continued. “I was very young. It was my word against the doctor, and I honestly feared that I would not be believed.”

Outside of the exam room, Becker said he would regularly see Strauss in the showers at OSU’s former athletic facility, Larkins Hall.

“I’d be the only person in the shower, and all of the sudden he’s standing right next to me,” Becker said. It felt like Strauss was stalking him, he said, and eventually Becker stopped going to the facility. He said there’s no way school officials were unaware of that aspect of the doctor’s behavior.

“I don’t think there’s any way possible,” he said. “He was so public about it, and there was so many people around.”

In the years since, the experience ate at him. Becker said he was vaguely aware of the Strauss lawsuit, but since he wasn’t a student athlete, he didn’t think it applied to him. When he saw news stories about Strauss, he changed the channel.

“Just seeing the picture of Dr. Straus triggered that trauma,” he said.

But earlier this month, former Columbus Fire Chief Jeff Happ shared that he was abused by Dr. Strauss as a high school wrestler at Bishop Ready in Columbus. Strauss saw youth athletes around the city as part of a supposed body fat study. Happ was just 15 the first time Strauss abused him.

Another Bishop Ready wrestler and retired Columbus Fire Captain Todd Schroeck came forward at the same time to share that he was also abused by Strauss as a high school athlete.

“I just wanted to step forward and tell others it’s time to be brave,” Schroeck said Tuesday. “It’s okay if you’re a victim, that doesn’t define who you are.”

As a high-ranking law enforcement official, Becker had interacted with Happ several times professionally and he reached out to speak to him. Happ put Becker in contact with Mike DiSabato, a wrestler who was first abused by Strauss in high school, who has become one of the leading voices pushing Ohio State University to make amends.

“For way too long, we have shamed sexual abuse victims over and over again,” DiSabato said. “And tragically, tragically here at the Ohio State University, we have shamed and traumatized sexual abuse victims in a way that is unspeakable. For eight years, sexual abuse victims have been fighting for accountability, fairness, and justice.”

Becker is not currently a part of litigation against the university and said he has not yet decided if he will join the lawsuit.

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