Police in Michigan have arrested William Strampel, a former Michigan State University dean and boss of Larry Nassar, the ex-doctor for USA Gymnastics now doing time in prison, MSU spokeswoman Emily Gerkin Guerrant said.
Charges against Strampel have not been disclosed. He is scheduled for arraignment Tuesday morning.
CNN is attempting to reach police, prosecutors and representatives of Strampel for comment.
MSU moved in early February to revoke the tenure of Strampel, who was Nassar’s boss as the dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine.
A letter from Carol Viventi, vice president and special counsel to interim Michigan State President John Engler, called out “Dr. Strampel’s failure to monitor and enforce clinical practice guidelines put in place for former doctor Larry Nassar following the conclusion of a 2014 sexual harassment investigation.”
That case concerned Amanda Thomashow’s 2014 report to MSU officials in which she said Nassar touched her vagina and her breasts during a doctor’s visit. Nassar told police and Strampel that this was part of his cutting-edge medical procedure, and he was cleared of wrongdoing.
According to Viventi’s letter, Strampel issued new guidelines for Nassar after the investigation, but did not notify the MSU Health Team or establish a system to monitor or enforce those guidelines. Nassar abused more young girls from the time after he was cleared until his arrest in late 2016.
“It would be incompatible with the expectations for teaching and clinical faculty within the College of Osteopathic Medicine for Dr. Strampel to resume his faculty appointment given his lack of action described above,” Viventi’s letter stated.
Strampel stepped down from the dean position in December citing health problems, but he remains a tenured professor and can only be dismissed if a faculty hearing committee finds cause exists to revoke tenure. MSU has begun the process of revoking Strampel’s tenure, the MSU spokeswoman said, adding that the process can take 6 to 12 months.
The Michigan Attorney General’s Office is scheduled to hold a news conference Tuesday afternoon, at which special prosecutor William Forsyth will provide an update on his investigation into how Nassar could have sexually abused girls and young women for nearly 20 years without the school intervening.
Nassar, the doctor for USA Gymnastics and MSU, was sentenced to lengthy prison sentences and admitted to using his trusted position to sexually abuse young girls for more than two decades. Scores of them came forward and told heart-wrenching stories of his abuse, and several blamed MSU for dismissing their complaints and failing to stop him.
