DeMora Condemns Outgoing, Lame Duck AG Yost on Dismissal of Ohio State Sexual Abuse Cases

Today, state Senator Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) issued the following statement after Attorney General Dave Yost announced he will be asking the court to dismiss claims by 77 plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Ohio State University for the sexual abuse by university doctor Richard Strauss. The announcement comes shortly before Yost steps down as attorney general on June 7 to join a far-right Christian fundamentalist advocacy group. 

“Not long ago, Dave Yost called a 10-year-old rape victim a liar, and now he is completely betraying the needs of survivors of sexual abuse as he heads out the door into a lucrative private contract with a bigoted hate group that is working to send all of America backwards,” said DeMora. “This decision has nothing to do with the case against Ohio State and Dr. Strauss; it is purely Yost using every opportunity he has left to screw Ohioans and benefit the ultra-rich elite class that he has always worked for.”

Yost’s decision comes less than a month after 30 former OSU football players came forward to join a class action lawsuit against Ohio State for Strauss’ abuses. While the exact number of students victimized by Dr. Strauss while he was employed at the university from 1978 to 1998 is unknown, Ohio State has already settled with 317 survivors.