News Anchor Says He Was Sexually Abused
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WXMI (Grand Rapids) Weekend Anchor Mike Avery delivered some very personal news yesterday that will probably come as a shock to his loyal viewers.
Avery says is one of the hundreds of former Ohio State University athletes who say they were sexually abused by former wrestling team doctor Dr. Richard Strauss.
Avery, who has worked for WXMI for the past 9 years was a lacrosse player for OSU from 1988 to 1991.
He told NBC News Reporter Gabe Gutierrez he was abused by Strauss.
Avery said he’s not sure how his viewers are going to respond. He said he too is having trouble coming to terms with the idea that he is a victim.
“Now they are going to see a different side of me,” he said. “I hope the support is there….I’m just me. I’ve got a story that I’ve been carrying with me for three decades.”
Avery is one of the most high-profile former OSU athlete to sue the university, which in May released a damning report compiled by the Perkins Coie law firm concluding that coaches and athletic administrators knew for two decades that Strauss was molesting male athletes but failed to sound the alarm or stop him.
“It’s something I won’t forget,” Avery said, as he recounted Strauss’ examination of his groin during a sophomore year physical, saying it felt like it went on forever.
“No physical I’d ever known went on like this,“ he said. “I remember saying to one of my teammates afterward, I think I was just assaulted.”
But Avery said he nobody else. Not his coaches. Not the people he loved.
“I didn’t say anything to anyone,” he said. “I didn’t say a word for three decades.”
Meanwhile, Avery said, what happened ate at him and made it difficult for him to form relationships and trust people.
“My wife and I have had trouble with our marriage,” he said. “It caused problems I didn’t expect to have to deal with.”
So his first reaction was anger when the results of the Perkins Coie investigation were finally released.
“I was angry that I have to share this with my family who had no idea,” he said. “And with what I do for a living, got to share it with my viewers locally where I live.”
“This guy basically roamed that campus for decades, preying on dozens of athletes,” Avery said. “It’s absolutely angering that this went on.”
This week, OSU states in its annual crime report that Strauss committed at many as 1,429 sexual assaults and 47 outright rapes while working as a physician at the university from 1978 to 1998.
H/T NBC News
