COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) A federal judge dismissed some of the biggest unsettled lawsuits over Ohio States failure to stop decades-old sexual abuse by now-deceased team doctor Richard Strauss, saying Wednesday its indisputable Strauss abused hundreds of young men but agreeing with OSUs argument that the legal window for such claims had passed.

For decades, many at Ohio State tasked with protecting and training students and young athletes instead turned a blind eye to Strausss exploitation, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson wrote in one ruling. From 1979 to 2018, Ohio State utterly failed these victims. Plaintiffs beseech this Court to hold Ohio State accountable, but today, the legal system also fails Plaintiffs.

The matter isnt done. Strauss-related lawsuits against OSU filed this year by dozens of other plaintiffs appeared to still be pending, with no dismissal or other new rulings appearing on those dockets as of late Wednesday. And lawyers for the 200-plus plaintiffs whose cases were dismissed immediately vowed to appeal.

Attorney Stephen Estey said the group of men he represents was devastated by the judges decision.

The students were betrayed on the campus, and theyre betrayed again by the university in the legal proceedings through the settlement amounts it offered and its argument for dismissing the cases, Estey said. I mean, its betrayal across the board.