George Tyndall.Photo:Al Seib / LA Times via Getty
Al Seib / LA Times via Getty
George Tyndall, a former gynecologist at the University of Southern California who has been accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of patients, has died while awaiting trial, according to multiple news reports. He was 76.
Tyndall, whose alleged sexual misconduct led to more than $1 billion in payouts from the university, was found dead in his Los Angeles home Wednesday, his lawyer, Leonard Levine, confirmed to theLos Angeles Times,Associated PressandCNN.
A medical examiner with the county coroner’s office told theLos Angeles Timesthat an autopsy will not be conducted, noting his death appeared to be from natural causes.
PEOPLE has reached out to Leonard Levine for comment on his client’s death.
“I feel very strongly that justice was denied for all of us,” Audry Nafziger, an alleged victim of Tyndall’s, told theLos Angeles Timesfollowing the news. “I wanted to see him convicted for what he did.”
In June 2019, Tyndall was arrested and charged with 29 counts of sex crimes after being accused of inappropriately touching 16 patients over the course of seven years at the campus health clinic, CNN reports, citing authorities. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Tyndall was free on a $1 million bond at the time of his death, theLos Angeles Timesreported. He was expected to go on trial next year, though an official date had not been set.
In 2018, about 500 current and former students came forward with allegations against Tyndall, who worked at the university for around three decades, theAssociated Pressreported. Former patients reportedly claimed that Tyndall took pictures of them, made them remove their clothes and touched them inappropriately.
Tyndall retired in 2017 after a university investigation and had consistently maintained his innocence.
“He is adamant that his examinations were for the stated medical purpose and within the standard of care for such examinations,” Tyndall’s lawyer, Leonard Levine,told PEOPLEin 2018.
In May 2018, C.L. Max Nikias resigned as USC president because of the scandal,CNNreported.
By March 2021, USC reached an agreement on an $852 million settlement with 710 former patients of Tyndall who filed suit in California state court, according to auniversity statement.
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According to CNN, the victim’s attorneys called it the “largest sexual abuse settlement against any university and the largest personal injury settlement against any university in history.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.
source: people.com
