An MSU employee has been charged with bestiality

Amid the continued fallout of Michigan State University's Larry Nassar scandal, another university employee has been accused of a sex-related crime.

On Monday, MSU physicist Joseph Hattey was charged with two counts of bestiality after allegedly sodomizing a basset hound named Flash with his hand and penis, according to the Michigan Attorney General's Office. According to the charging documents, the crime happened between Jan. 7, 2018 and March 8, 2018. If convicted, Hattey faces a 15-year felony. The dog is now with Ingham County Animal Control.

The AG's office states that Hattey is not alleged to have committed the acts on campus or with an animal owned by the university. In a statement, MSU said Hattey does not work with students, patients, or animals and has been put on administrative suspension pending the investigation.

Still, it's a bad look for the school, which has been rattled by sex scandals in recent months. Nassar was sentenced to 175 years of prison earlier this year for the sexually abusing athletes. Meanwhile, ex-dean William Strampel has been accused of enabling Nassar as well as sexually harassing MSU students and possessing pornographic images on his work computer, including video of Nassar's assaults.

Former MSU President Lou Anna Simon is set to answer questions from the U.S. Senate subcommittee at 3 p.m. on Tuesday about the university's role in enabling Nassar's abuse.

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