Survivors, politicians propose sexual abuse reporting laws in Michigan

By Dan Murphy
ESPN
February 26, 2018

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/22589891/larry-nassar-case-sexual-abuse-reporting-laws-proposed-michigan

The women who spoke up to help put convicted sexual predator Larry Nassar in prison are speaking again, this time in support of changes to Michigan laws that would make it easier to hold his enablers and future would-be abusers accountable.

Six women who say they were abused by the formerly celebrated sports physician for Michigan State and USA Gymnastics joined a host of state politicians Monday afternoon to introduce a package of proposed legislation related to reporting sexual abuse.

Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual assault in September 2016, said the proposed bills would take Michigan from one of the nation's least victim-friendly states in the judicial process to one of the nation's best at handling these cases.

"The legislative package unveiled today will become a blueprint for our country," Denhollander said during a news conference at the state's Capitol.

The laws, if passed, would include new rules that make it mandatory for coaches, athletic trainers and volunteers involved in youth sports to report any claims of sexual abuse, and would increase the penalties for failing to report those claims to up to two years of prison time and/or a $1,000 fine. They would also significantly extend the statute of limitations in criminal and civil court, allowing women and men 30 years after their alleged assault to report what happened to them. Minors would have up to 30 years beyond their 18th birthday.

State legislators are scheduled to begin reviewing the package of 10 bills -- proposed by Sen. Margaret O'Brien and a bipartisan group of state senators and representatives -- Tuesday afternoon in committee meetings. Denhollander and fellow Nassar survivor Sterling Riethman are expected to speak at those sessions Tuesday.

Denhollander and Riethman first met with O'Brien and a group of other state senators in early December to tell their stories and ask for help. Denhollander, a mother of three with a law degree, grew up in O'Brien's district and volunteered on some of her political campaigns more than a decade ago.

"They laid it all out, and when it's all laid out in black and white, how do you not act?" O'Brien said. "I was already outraged with what had happened before I met with them. I was even more outraged when I saw what happened in black and white."

O'Brien said her goal is to make sure the changes in legislation would apply retroactively to 1993, which would cover all of Nassar's career as a licensed doctor. That means the new laws would apply to mandatory reporters who failed to act when they heard complaints about Nassar during the past two decades.

Michigan State coaches heard complaints about Nassar's behavior as early as 1997, according to Larissa Boyce. Boyce was a 16-year-old youth gymnast when she says she told Spartan gymnastics coach Kathie Klages that Nassar was abusing her during medical appointments. Boyce said Klages told her that she must be mistaken, and discouraged her from repeating her claims to other authority figures.

"Instead of being believed, I was questioned, I was embarrassed and I was humiliated by Kathie," Boyce said Monday. "She did not notify the proper authorities or even my parents. Instead, she told the man who was abusing me, and this only enabled and empowered Nassar to keep abusing and feel like he was invincible."

Klages, along with other coaches and authority figures from Michigan State and USA Gymnastics, are among the co-defendants in civil lawsuits related to Nassar's abuse that were filed by more than 160 women and girls. Klages has previously declined requests to answer questions about Boyce's claims.

Part of the legislative package introduced Monday would also eliminate any protection Michigan State might be afforded from sovereign immunity rules in cases dealing with sexual assault or allowing sexual assault to occur. Sovereign immunity is a legal doctrine that protects government entities -- like a public university -- from civil and criminal prosecution.

"We have had enough in Michigan of political leaders who look the other way," Denhollander said, while praising O'Brien and others for taking the time to hear their stories. "We have had enough of political leaders who care more about institutions and [political] parties than little boys and little girls."

Denhollander urged the legislators to move quickly on the laws, asking them to pass the proposed bills before breaking for the summer.

"My fourth child is due in July," she said. "I want my little girl to be born into a world that is safer because of what we have done today."