A former dean at Michigan State University will go to trial for sexual misconduct and other charges.
William Strampel is charged with Misconduct of a Public Official, a felony, for using his office to try to get sexual favors from female students.
A judge decided to send the case to trial Tuesday after a hearing.
A female student in the MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine testified against Strampel at the hearing.
The Attorney General’s office asked that the names of alleged victims not be publicized.
She said she met with Strampel to appeal the results of a test.
The woman said Strampel said things that she interpreted as requests for naked pictures.
“I was, I was very scared,” she said. “I instantly was ‘what is going on’ almost went into a survival mode as there was no one in the room with us, no one in the adjacent room.”
John Dakmak is Strampel’s attorney. He argued the charge should be thrown out. He said Strampel never outright asked for any sexual favors. And while the women were uncomfortable, it wasn’t criminal.
“Regardless of their meetings, no quid pro ever exchanged, and no adverse action to any of these women,” he said. “Where’s the corrupt conduct?”
Strampel is also charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct in the fourth degree, a high court misdemeanor, for grabbing the buttocks of a student during a ceremony.
The woman who says Strampel groped her testified at the hearing. She said she didn’t tell anyone what happened because, “It was very well known among the female students that Dean Strampel did these kind of things.”
Strampel is also charged with two misdemeanors, which were not discussed during the hearing, for not enforcing protocols on Larry Nassar after an investigation into his medical practices.
Nassar is the former Michigan State University sports doctor who will spend the rest of his life in prison for sexual assault. Strampel was his boss at Michigan State.
