Dancer says she 'would never have been abused' by Larry Nassar if clinic boss did his job

New charges levelled against Larry Nassar's boss at Michigan State University are "a step in the right direction," says one of the women who testified against the sports doctor who sexually molested hundreds of young athletes in his care.

William Strampel, who oversaw a clinic that employed Nassar, was charged Tuesday with failing to enforce or monitor protocols set for Nassar after a female patient complained of inappropriate sexual contact.

He was also accused of sexually propositioning female medical students and compiling nude student "selfies" on his work computer.

• Michigan State official who oversaw Nassar clinic charged
• AS IT HAPPENS: Why dancer Morgan McCaul faced Larry Nassar in court

The allegations have not been proven in court. In a statement, Michigan State University told As It Happens the school "will continue to co-operate with all official investigations related to sexual assault or other misconduct."​

Morgan McCaul, a dancer who testified against Nassar, spoke with As It Happens host Carol Off about the new charges.

Here is part of that conversation.

We heard over and over again during Larry Nassar's trial from you, from other abuse survivors, about how no one at Michigan State University looked out for you. What did you think when you heard about the charges laid today against William Strampel?

I think it's a step in the right direction. It's very clear that no one at the university was looking out for us. And it has been so clear throughout this entire process.

And the specific charges against him, what do you make of that? That he was supposed to make sure that Larry Nassar was observed — that someone was with him in the room — that he never followed through on any of the protocols he was supposed to put in place to protect the students and people like yourself.

Interestingly enough, this has been public knowledge, to my understanding, since 2016 and no one at the university thought to do something about it up until this point.

So this is long overdue and these charges needed to happen. 

Had William Strampel done his job, I would never have been abused.

How would it have been different? What was he supposed to do? 

William Strampel had instructed Nassar to have a fellow employee in the room whenever he was doing any sort of sensitive procedure.

He also advised that [Nassar] should wear gloves whenever he was doing intimate procedures — procedures which we now know were not legitimate medical treatments, they were abuse.

And, on top of that, just in terms of full disclosure and receiving informed consent, patients should have been made aware that these protocols were put in place — and we never were.

What signaled to you that the former dean might face charges of neglect of duty?

The fact that we literally have on record his statement to police departments saying that he had no intention of following up on enforcing those protocols for Larry.

I knew that he had made multiple derogatory comments about and other survivors calling us the cherry on top of his day when he was made aware that this was going public.

It's just a long time coming. He's not the only enabler that we know of at Michigan State University, but he's the first to have actual accountability for his failure to do his job.

The charges against William Strampel are not just for a neglect of duty when it came to Larry Nassar. There are other very disturbing allegations that he had his own system of abuse, according to the documents. That he groped the behinds of women at events and that he demeaned the way they were dressed.

There was a complaint that he told female students they had to "learn their place." A search of his office computer found 50 photos containing nudity and pornography and some of the students. What do you make of that?

I think it speaks volumes to the culture that exists to this day at Michigan State University.

It's really disappointing but it's not surprising because this is exactly the kind of social environment in which a predator is allowed to thrive.

What else would you like to see the university do at this point?

I'd like them, first, to take accountability. That this was not just the Larry Nassar problem, this is an institutional problem and therefore there is institutional accountability for these acts committed against hundreds of women.

Beyond that, I really want them to take an aggressive self-reflection and examine all of their policies which contributed to this situation.

This goes way beyond Larry Nassar and I think this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we're going to see coming out of Michigan State University going forward.

Written by Jason Vermes with files from Associated Press. Interview produced by Kate Swoger. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.