Mike DiSabato, left, turns himself in for arrest by an officer at Franklin County Municipal Court in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday, Jan. 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Kantele Franko)
A former Ohio state wrestler whose complaints sparked an investigation into the allegations of decades-old sexual abuse by an Ohio State team doctor and accused Ohio Republican Jim Jordan of knowing about the sex-abuse was arrested on Monday on charges related to a claim of harassment.
Mike DiSabato, 50, was arrested on a warrant stemming from his failure to appear before the court on Friday concerning the harassment charge brought by Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center director of development Matthew Finkes, who criticized the former wrestler.
DiSabato said he didn’t intend to skip the court date and his lawyers said the court is responsible for the mistake, claiming the court misinformed them about the schedule.
“I’m a wanted man because of bureaucratic bungling,” DiSabato told NBC News.
He’s now set to appear in court on Tuesday. He previously denied that he harassed Finkes and countered the claim saying Finkes actually harassed him.
DiSabato is the leading accuser who claims he experienced sexual misconduct by Dr. Richard Strauss, who died in 2005. Over 150 men have stepped forward to accuse Strauss of sexual misconduct.
He also made a bombshell allegation that Jordan, one of the leading Republican lawmakers in the House, turned a blind eye to the sex-abuse scandal during his time as an Ohio State assistant coach.
Jordan denied he knew about the complaints about the doctor and said no formal complaints were received about Strauss’ conduct.
“Congressman Jordan never saw any abuse, never heard about any abuse, and never had any abuse reported to him during his time as a coach at Ohio State,” spokesman Ian Fury told Fox News last year.
Jordan did receive emails last year about the alleged abuse by DiSabato, which he forwarded to Chief of Staff Kevin Eichinger and his attorney.
Fox News has obtained two of the emails sent to Jordan, most of which are hard to decipher and peppered with emojis.
EX-OHIO STATE WRESTLER'S EMAILS TO REP. JIM JORDAN ALLEGE COVER-UP OF 'VILE' SEX ABUSE
Both messages -- dated May 6 and June 15 and bearing the subject line "WINTER IS HERE" -- appear to be directed to Ohio State football legend Archie Griffin and former NCAA official Oliver Luck, the father of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.
"I BCC over 250 of my VO BROTHERS WHO WERE RAPED and/or sexual prayed [sic] upon daily under the Buckeye banner which you wanna tie your brand ..." reads the May 6 email, which closes with the phrase: "#RapeCoverUpAWayOfLife."
DiSabato said the congressman’s response to his allegations has been "disappointing. The position he took was staggering at best. He chose to double down. Triple down."
Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Samuel Chamberlain and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
