It keeps getting worse in East Lansing.
Lawsuit: George Perles intervened after Nassar accused of drugging, raping athlete in 1992
MATT MENCARINI | LANSING STATE JOURNAL | 8 hours ago
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com...ete-1992-george-perles-intervened/1264735002/
A woman says in a recently filed lawsuit that Larry Nassar drugged and raped her during a medical appointment in the spring of 1992, when she was a Michigan State University field hockey player.
Erika Davis told her coach what happened, including that the assault was videotaped, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Grand Rapids and includes her name. Her coach, Martha Ludwig, confronted Nassar about what happened and demanded and received a copy of the recording, according to the lawsuit.
George Perles, who had resigned as athletic director in 1992 and is a current Michigan State University trustee, later intervened and the complaint was dropped, according to the lawsuit. Perles forced Ludwig to return the video, resign and sign a non-disclosure agreement, according to the lawsuit.
Nassar was a student in MSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1992, although in 1986 he began working as an athletic trainer with USA Gymnastics. MSU hired him in 1997, following his work with the U.S. women's gymnastics team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
According to the lawsuit, Davis was 17 when the rape occurred. Davis says in the lawsuit that she became pregnant, that Nassar is the only person who could have been the father and that she later had a miscarriage.
In October 1992, Davis and two friends went to the MSU Police Department to file a report, according to the lawsuit.
"The police told them that since she was an athlete, she had to report it to the athletic department," her attorneys wrote in the lawsuit. "The detective explicitly told them that he was powerless to investigate anything that takes place to the athletic department and to go to the athletic department.
"Plaintiff Erika explained that the athletic department already dismissed it and the Sergeant responded that George Perles is a 'powerful man,' and she should just drop it."
Davis later had her field hockey scholarship taken away from her, according to the lawsuit.
"This proves that not only did Defendant Michigan State University have knowledge that Defendant Nassar sexually abused and sexually assaulted minors, but that it would also go to great lengths to conceal this conduct," Davis' attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.
"Defendant Michigan State University could have stopped Defendant Nassar’s conduct back in 1992, but did not."
Perles, who was named head football coach at MSU in 1982, became athletic director in 1990. He left the AD position in the spring of 1992, handing the reins to Merrily Dean Baker, who came on board in mid-May.
Current MSU Police Chief Jim Dunlap, who said he didn't know about the lawsuit or whether the department ever received a report, said it was "nonsense" that the department would have declined to investigate because Perles or the athletic department was involved.
"It just doesn’t happen," he said. "We just don't do things that way."
The MSU Police Department led the criminal investigation of Nassar in 2014 and 2016. The 2014 investigation ended when Ingham County prosecutors declined to issue charges. The 2016 investigation ended with state and federal convictions and hundreds of women and girls reporting that Nassar had abused them.
While Davis' lawsuit is the most recent to say that MSU officials were told of Nassar's sexual abuse prior to 2016, it isn't the only to make that claim.
Larissa Boyce has said that she and another teen raised concerns about Nassar's sexual abuse in 1997, to then MSU women's gymnasics coach Kathie Klages. Klages was charged last month with lying to police about the disclosures.
Tiffany Thomas Lopez, a former MSU softball player, said in late 2016 that she told three MSU trainers about Nassar abuse between 1998 about 2000.
Amanda Thomashow was a recent MSU graduate in 2014 when she told MSU that Nassar sexually assaulted her during a medical appointment, which prompted a police and university Title IX investigation.
Kyle Stephens, who Nassar pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting outside of a medical setting, disclosed her childhood abuse to an MSU clinical psychologist in 2004.
Davis said she repressed the memories until February 2018, the month that Nassar's two sentencing hearings on state sexual assault charges ended. The hearings garnered national and international media attention and prompted more women and girls to come forward with stories of abuse.
Earlier this year, MSU agreed to settle lawsuits filed by more than 300 women and girls for $425 million, with an additional $75 million set aside for future lawsuits. Monday was the deadline that settlement agreement set for new claims.
MSU fired Nassar in September 2016, amid an increasing number of sexual assault reports dating back years.
Nassar, 55, formerly of Holt, is serving a 60-year federal prison sentence on child pornography convictions.
He was also sentenced to decades in prison for sexually assaulting nine girls, including one he abused outside of a medical setting.
Lawsuit: George Perles intervened after Nassar accused of drugging, raping athlete in 1992
MATT MENCARINI | LANSING STATE JOURNAL | 8 hours ago
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com...ete-1992-george-perles-intervened/1264735002/
A woman says in a recently filed lawsuit that Larry Nassar drugged and raped her during a medical appointment in the spring of 1992, when she was a Michigan State University field hockey player.
Erika Davis told her coach what happened, including that the assault was videotaped, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Grand Rapids and includes her name. Her coach, Martha Ludwig, confronted Nassar about what happened and demanded and received a copy of the recording, according to the lawsuit.
George Perles, who had resigned as athletic director in 1992 and is a current Michigan State University trustee, later intervened and the complaint was dropped, according to the lawsuit. Perles forced Ludwig to return the video, resign and sign a non-disclosure agreement, according to the lawsuit.
Nassar was a student in MSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1992, although in 1986 he began working as an athletic trainer with USA Gymnastics. MSU hired him in 1997, following his work with the U.S. women's gymnastics team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
According to the lawsuit, Davis was 17 when the rape occurred. Davis says in the lawsuit that she became pregnant, that Nassar is the only person who could have been the father and that she later had a miscarriage.
In October 1992, Davis and two friends went to the MSU Police Department to file a report, according to the lawsuit.
"The police told them that since she was an athlete, she had to report it to the athletic department," her attorneys wrote in the lawsuit. "The detective explicitly told them that he was powerless to investigate anything that takes place to the athletic department and to go to the athletic department.
"Plaintiff Erika explained that the athletic department already dismissed it and the Sergeant responded that George Perles is a 'powerful man,' and she should just drop it."
Davis later had her field hockey scholarship taken away from her, according to the lawsuit.
"This proves that not only did Defendant Michigan State University have knowledge that Defendant Nassar sexually abused and sexually assaulted minors, but that it would also go to great lengths to conceal this conduct," Davis' attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.
"Defendant Michigan State University could have stopped Defendant Nassar’s conduct back in 1992, but did not."
Perles, who was named head football coach at MSU in 1982, became athletic director in 1990. He left the AD position in the spring of 1992, handing the reins to Merrily Dean Baker, who came on board in mid-May.
Current MSU Police Chief Jim Dunlap, who said he didn't know about the lawsuit or whether the department ever received a report, said it was "nonsense" that the department would have declined to investigate because Perles or the athletic department was involved.
"It just doesn’t happen," he said. "We just don't do things that way."
The MSU Police Department led the criminal investigation of Nassar in 2014 and 2016. The 2014 investigation ended when Ingham County prosecutors declined to issue charges. The 2016 investigation ended with state and federal convictions and hundreds of women and girls reporting that Nassar had abused them.
While Davis' lawsuit is the most recent to say that MSU officials were told of Nassar's sexual abuse prior to 2016, it isn't the only to make that claim.
Larissa Boyce has said that she and another teen raised concerns about Nassar's sexual abuse in 1997, to then MSU women's gymnasics coach Kathie Klages. Klages was charged last month with lying to police about the disclosures.
Tiffany Thomas Lopez, a former MSU softball player, said in late 2016 that she told three MSU trainers about Nassar abuse between 1998 about 2000.
Amanda Thomashow was a recent MSU graduate in 2014 when she told MSU that Nassar sexually assaulted her during a medical appointment, which prompted a police and university Title IX investigation.
Kyle Stephens, who Nassar pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting outside of a medical setting, disclosed her childhood abuse to an MSU clinical psychologist in 2004.
Davis said she repressed the memories until February 2018, the month that Nassar's two sentencing hearings on state sexual assault charges ended. The hearings garnered national and international media attention and prompted more women and girls to come forward with stories of abuse.
Earlier this year, MSU agreed to settle lawsuits filed by more than 300 women and girls for $425 million, with an additional $75 million set aside for future lawsuits. Monday was the deadline that settlement agreement set for new claims.
MSU fired Nassar in September 2016, amid an increasing number of sexual assault reports dating back years.
Nassar, 55, formerly of Holt, is serving a 60-year federal prison sentence on child pornography convictions.
He was also sentenced to decades in prison for sexually assaulting nine girls, including one he abused outside of a medical setting.
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