George Clooney to produce focus areas on athlete sex abuse where Jim Jordan coached

Actor George Clooney provides documentation on decades of reported sexual abuse of athletes at Ohio State University, where Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) was once an assistant wrestling coach.

The series is based on a Sports Illustrated article by author Jon Wertheim last year that addresses the accusations against the late Ohio sports doctor Richard Strauss – and the lack of response from officials.

The university said in its 2019 annual crime report that Strauss had committed at least 1,429 sexual assaults and 47 rapes during his 20-year term. Strauss was never charged and died in 2005 of suicide.

The documentation may not be welcome news for Jordan, who from 1987 to 1995 was the assistant coach of the wrestling team in the state of Ohio. At least three athletes and a referee claimed that they discussed the abuse directly with Jordan, but that he took no action to stop it. Jordan denied having been told or known of any abuse.

One of the victims in the Sports Illustrated story claims Jordan deliberately ignored Strauss’ abuse.

A one-time captain in Jordan’s team said in an interview with MSNBC’s Joy Reid last year that the scandal was only “going to get worse” for Jordan.

Former wrestler Adam DiSabato told Reid that Jordan had repeatedly called him to plead with him to contradict DiSabato’s own brother’s report in 2018 that he had told Jordan about sexual abuse. DiSabato said Jordan is fully aware that Strauss molests athletes during physical exercise.

The sexual abuse was ‘blatant knowledge in our wrestling team’, he told Reid.

Hundreds of athletes have filed complaints against the university for ignoring allegations of sexual abuse. One suit cites cases of Strauss “intoxicating and raping athletes”, and claims Strauss also bred underage boys who participated in athletics events on campus.

A referee said in a 2019 lawsuit that Strauss was masturbating in front of him in a shower after a wrestling match at the university – and that he had reported the encounter to Jordan. “Yes, it’s Strauss,” Russ Hellickson, the head coach at the time, said in court.

The state of Ohio agreed last May to pay $ 41 million to tackle 162 victims.

Sports Illustrated Studios and 101 Studios are producing the series about the scandal involving Clooney’s Smokehouse Pictures, reports Variety. According to The Hollywood Reporter, there is still no outlet for the documentaries.