LOS ANGELES -- It has been a painful and puzzling year for USC graduate Ja’Mesha Morgan.
“I think it’s hurtful and a slap in the face to make myself vulnerable over and over to the trauma that I experienced then receive no follow up, receive no justice,” Morgan said at her home in Inglewood.
Morgan is one of hundreds of women who have accused USC’s former on-campus gynecologist Dr. George Tyndall of mistreating her during one of the most intimate exams a woman can receive.
Morgan learned about other accusations a year ago when the Los Angeles Times published a bombshell investigation into the doctor’s conduct spanning almost three decades as the only gynecologist at USC.
Memories of her own visit to the health center in 2016 came rushing back.
“I was taught to trust my doctors,” Morgan said.
At the time, she says the exam felt wrong. In fact, she said she told the doctor to stop when she felt him violate her. She never filed a former complaint with the school, but told friends about the incident.
“It wasn’t anything I had experienced before but because I wasn’t a medical expert I doubted whether what I felt I was experiencing was the reality of what I was experiencing,” Morgan said.
At a follow up appointment, Morgan said Tyndall offered to buy her sex toys.
“He was essentially saying he would purchase these toys and I could come to his office and pick them up and no one would know,” Morgan said.
A year after the story broke, Tyndall is not facing any charges. He is not in jail. He has not been interviewed by police. His name and unit number have been removed from the lobby where police searched his condo in Lafayette Park.
“Dr. Tyndall remains adamant that he engaged in no criminal conduct while employed as a physician at USC,” said his lawyer Leonard Levine. “He is hopeful that any independent investigation, such as that being conducted by LAPD and the District Attorney’s Office, will confirm that fact.”
The District Attorney’s Office confirmed they received 102 crime reports from LAPD regarding the case, but declined to comment further on the investigation.
Morgan’s story is likely among those reports. Two LAPD detectives interviewed her last May, then she met with the Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller, Jr who asked if she would be willing to testify in front of a grand jury. She hasn’t heard anything since.
“I think I’m disappointed,” Morgan said. “People encourage women to come forward and for their cases to be taken seriously.”
When reached for comment, a USC spokesperson said the school is cooperating with the investigation.