Dean who supervised USA Gymnastics doctor guilty

LANSING, Mich. — A former dean who had oversight of now-imprisoned sports doctor Larry Nassar at Michigan State University was found guilty Wednesday of neglect of duty and misconduct in office but acquitted on a more serious criminal sexual conduct charge.

William Strampel, the ex-dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, was the first person charged after Michigan’s attorney general launched an investigation 1½ years ago into how Michigan State handled complaints against Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics team physician who pleaded guilty to molesting female athletes and possessing child pornography.

Strampel, 71, had been accused of abusing his power to sexually proposition and harass female students for years and not enforcing patient restrictions imposed on Nassar following a 2014 sexual misconduct complaint. Jurors acquitted him of felony criminal sexual conduct in the second degree, a charge that could have sent him to prison for up to 15 years, for grabbing the buttocks of one student at a fundraising ball.

He still faces up to five years in prison on the felony misconduct conviction, which stems from a charge that he used his public office to sexually harass, demean and proposition students who met with him to discuss academic issues. He also was convicted of willfully neglecting a duty to monitor Nassar after protocols were put in place requiring that a third person be present in the exam room — misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in prison.

Strampel left the courthouse without commenting. His attorney, John Dakmak, said it “speaks volumes” that jurors “saw through a lot of allegations that fell flat.”

Sentencing is scheduled for July 31.