A former Ohio State wrestler who accused Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, of complicity in sex-abuse when he a coach there has been jailed on charges related to a claim of harassment.
Mike DiSabato was arrested Monday in Columbus, Ohio, on a warrant related to his failure to appear in court on the harassment charge brought by Ohio State football player Matthew Finkes.
Mr. DiSabato was scheduled to appear in court Friday, but did not do so because, he told NBC News, neither he nor his lawyer was told of the hearing.
“I’m a wanted man because of bureaucratic bungling,” he said.
Another hearing in the harassment case is set for Tuesday.
Mr. DiSabato claimed in July that Mr. Jordan, now one of the most prominent conservative lawmakers in the House, had turned a blind eye to sexual-molestation complaints by the wrestlers against Dr. Richard Strauss.
Mr. Jordan, who coached at Ohio State from 1986 to 1994, has said he never received any formal complaints about Strauss, and no publicly-reported official evidence contradicts him. But he also said he wasn’t even aware of locker-room talk about the doctor, a claim Mr. DiSabato has scoffed at as absurd.
The Ohio State wrestlers at the time are divided over whether Mr. Jordan knew about the reputation they all acknowledge Strauss had. More than 150 men have said Strauss committed some form of sex abuse against them in his role as team doctor.
Days after Mr. DiSabato’s claim about the congressman’s complicity became public, Mr. Finkes filed an official complaint with the Columbus Police Department accusing the ex-wrestler of telephone harassment.
“Michael H. DiSabato knowingly made the telecommunication to Matthew S. Finkes and had been previously told not to call,” the complaint states, according to NBC, which added that the complaint does not specify what Mr. DiSabato had been calling him about.
Mr. Finkes is a second cousin of Mr. Jordan and had been recruited by him to wrestle for the Buckeyes, but chose to play football instead.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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