Michigan Senate Panel: Coaches Must Report Sexual Abuse

By Alice Yin
Associated Press
June 6, 2018

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jun/6/michigan-senate-panel-requires-coaches-report-sexu/

FILE - In this Nov. 22, 2017, file photo, Larry Nassar, a sports doctor accused of molesting girls while working for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University appears in court in Lansing, Mich., where he pleaded guilty to multiple charges ... more >

Sports coaches are rejoining the list of people required to report child abuse under a batch of Michigan bills spurred by the Larry Nassar scandal, a Senate committee unanimously decided on Wednesday.

Lawmakers convened in a hearing to clear for a Senate vote 24 bills that would revamp how Michigan prosecutes and reports sexual assault. They also moved forward an amendment to mandate that paid coaches and assistant coaches at K-12 and college athletics programs report suspected child abuse and neglect, bucking the House’s earlier decision to remove them due to concerns about clogging the child welfare system with excess reports.

The update is the latest iteration of the legislation introduced in the wake of Nassar molesting hundreds of girls and women while employed as a sports doctor at Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics, a training ground for Olympians. Nassar is now imprisoned after pleading guilty to sexual assault and possessing child pornography.

State Sen. Rick Jones, a Grand Ledge Republican and chair of the Senate committee reporting the bills, said he restored the provision because Nassar victims said coaches had brushed aside warnings of the ex-doctor’s abusive treatments.

“All of the citizens I talked to want the coaches back in,” Jones said. “(Some coaches) don’t seem to want anything bad to be known about their facility and this is a step to make sure we bring this out and we end the culture of silence.”

Several top MSU officials have left or were ousted since the scandal erupted, including a former head gymnastics