Category: Title IX

The University of Southern California is under an investigation from the United States Education Department for failing to act on student complaints that a campus health clinic gynecologist was sexually harassing his patients during their pelvic examinations.

The federal agency will examine why complaints against Dr. George Tyndall were not investigated by the university in accordance with civil rights and Title IX federal regulations.  Tyndall, who has denied any wrongdoing in interviews with the Los Angeles Times, is accused of abusing patients at the school from 1990 to 2016.

Additionally, the Los Angeles Police Department has launched a criminal investigation against Tyndall, based on 52 sexual assault complaints filed by students during the 26-year period.

In the recent, highly publicized sexual assault case that stunned the nation, former Olympic doctor Larry Nassar was found guilty of abusing dozens of young female athletes and sentenced to 175 years in prison. This, however, was not the first time Nassar was formally accused of sexual assault. In 2014, a Title IX investigation against Nassar at Michigan State University found “no evidence of misconduct,” allowing Nassar to continue working for the school and subjecting young women to inappropriate sexual behavior disguised as proper medical treatment.

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools and requires universities to investigate all cases of student sexual assault and harassment. In her Title IX case, former MSU student Amanda Thomashow described Nassar massaging her breasts and vaginal area during medical examinations. The accusation was handled by Kristine Moore, the university’s Title IX coordinator and full time employee. Moore is now MSU’s Assistant General Counsel and is responsible for protecting the school from legal liability.

In the ongoing legal cases against Larry Nassar, former sports physician for the U.S. gymnastics team who was served with more than 150 lawsuits for sexual crimes he committed, another gymnast has come forward with a lawsuit. Gold medal Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman filed a lawsuit in California state court earlier this month alleging USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee failed to protect her and other athletes from Nassar’s misconduct.

The lawsuit claims that the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics looked the other way when Nassar sexually harassed and abused Raisman on dozens of occasions under the guise of medical treatment. Raisman says that the organizations shielded Nassar from the investigations and allegations that surrounded Nassar’s history and did not take the proper actions to keep the gymnasts safe.

An 18-year-old Jefferson High School student is currently under criminal investigation for sexually abusing multiple girls between the ages of 3-8 where he worked as a teacher’s aide at a local YMCA. Michael Begin is accused of touching 17 children in an inappropriate manner while working at the Jeffersonville YMCA as well as at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. He’s currently being held in the Clark County jail on more than 20 total charges of child molestation.

Parents of the children he’s abused have filed multiple lawsuits against the facilities where the abuse occurred. These lawsuits claim that the institutions and staff member should have done more to protect the girls from being molested. One earlier lawsuit targets the Greater Clark Schools Corp. Two recent lawsuits target the YMCA of Greater Louisville.

One of our nation’s most horrific cases of sexual assault at a massive level came to light last November when 54-year-old Larry Nassar was convicted of 10 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and served with more than 150 lawsuits from women claiming he sexually assaulted them under the guise of “medical treatment”. Larry Nassar was a sports physician at Michigan State University, doctor for Team USA, and served as the USA Gymnastics’ national medical coordinator for more than 20 combined years—all the while committing sexual crimes to underage girls.

The most horrifying detail of this case might be the fact that it’s being discovered that multiple university administrators, faculty members, and even a few parents had been notified that the sexual crimes were happening and turned a blind eye. According to an investigative article by ESPN, multiple students reported Nassar after being sexually assaulted and/or manipulated. After all these instances, the reports were buried and ignored. Why? Because Nassar manipulated more than just his students.