Report: Former dean of MSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine thought Nassar abuse victims were lying

The former dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Michigan State University, William Strampel, made comments of support for Larry Nassar in 2016 regarding the allegations of Nassar's sexual abuse to his patients.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Strampel did not believe the hundreds of athletes who accused Nassar of sexual abuse in 2016.

Here is what Strampel said in 2016 when the allegations first came to light:

"This just goes to show that none of you learned the most basic lesson in medicine, medicine 101, that you should have learned in your first week: don't trust your patients," Strampel said. "Patients lie to get doctors in trouble. And we're seeing that right now in the news with this Nassar stuff. I don't think any of these women were actually assaulted by Larry, but Larry didn't learn that lesson and didn't have a chaperone in the room, so now they see an opening and they can take advantage of him.

"As soon as I found out I had to fire his ass. I didn't want to, but what am I suppose to do?"

The Huffington Post talked with a spokesperson from Michigan State, who said MSU would not speak on behalf of Strampel, but did say John Engler, MSU's interim president, began the process of terminating Strampel's employment back in February. That process, however, could take up to one year.

“William Strampel did not act with the level of professionalism we expect from individuals who hold senior leadership positions, particularly in a position that involves student and patient safety,” Engler said. “We are sending an unmistakable message today that we will remove employees who do not treat students, faculty, staff or anyone else in our community in an appropriate manner.”

Strampel stepped down as dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Michigan State for medical reasons in December 2016. He was the dean for the College of Osteopathic Medicine since 2002.

Nassar was fired from MSU in September 2016 over the allegations of sexual abuse. He was then arrested in November 2016 on charges of child pornography. He was sentenced to 40-to-175 years in January for sexually abusing hundreds of gymnasts and other athletes.

Nassar's work with gymnasts dates back to 1978, and he became an athletic trainer on the United States gymnastics team in 1986. He became a team physician and assistant professor at MSU in 1997.