Former MSU gymnastics coach charged with lying to police about Larry Nassar allegations

By Kara Berg And Matt Mencarini
Lansing State Journal
August 23, 2018

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/2018/08/23/former-msu-gymnastics-coach-charged-lying-police-nassar-allegations/1072923002/

Kathie Klages was charged with two counts of lying to peace officers. Photo by Emily Nagle

Former MSU gymnastics coach Kathie Klages has been charged with lying to police about her knowledge of sexual assault complaints about Larry Nassar prior to 2016.

The charges, filed today in 54A District Court in Lansing, make Klages the second person charged as part of the Michigan Attorney General's Office investigation of Michigan State University's handling of reports about Nassar. 

"Klages denied to Michigan State Police detectives having been told prior to 2016 of Nassar’s sexual misconduct," according to an AG's Office news release. "Witnesses have said that they reported Nassar’s sexual abuse to Klages dating back more than 20 years."

One of those people is Larissa Boyce, a former youth gymnast who said she told Klages about Nassar's abuse in 1997, when she was 16. Boyce said that Klages cautioned her and another gymnast from filing a formal complaint against Nassar, which Klages has denied. 

Klages, 63, of Mason, faces a felony and misdemeanor charge of lying to an investigator for, according to the warrant, denying that she had been told by victims that they were abused by Nassar. 

The felony relates to lying to an investigator who was conducting a first-degree criminal sexual conduct investigation, according to the warrant, and the misdemeanor relates to lying to an investigator who was conducting a misconduct in office investigation. 

If convicted on the felony charge, she faces up to four years in prison. The misdemeanor charge carries a sentence of up to two years.

A $5,000 bond has been set and a warrant was issued for her arrest. Andrea Bitely, a spokeswoman for the AG's Office, said Klages' attorney has been notified and she has until the end of the day Friday to turn herself in to police. Bitely declined to comment further.

A message was left seeking comment from Klages's attorney.

The AG's Office prosecuted Nassar in the state cases, securing 10 sexual assault convictions split between Ingham and Eaton counties. In January, amid the two sentencing hearings, the AG's Office announced an investigation of the university's handling of the Nassar matter. 

In March, that investigation charged William Strampel, the former dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and one of Nassar's former bosses, with a felony unrelated to Nassar and misdemeanor charges for his actions during and after Nassar's 2014 Title IX investigation. Strampel's case is now in Ingham County Circuit Court.

The investigation is being led by former Kent County prosecutor William Forsyth and is working with the Michigan State Police. Investigators have interviewed more than 500 people, according to the news release, including "all Nassar survivors that wanted to be interviewed, as well as MSU faculty and staff, coaches, and members of the community."

Klages retired on Feb. 14, 2017, a day after the university suspended her amid growing criticism of the way she responded to concerns about Nassar in the past and the way she handled a team meeting after an Indianapolis Star story detailed two gymnast's allegations against Nassar. She had been the coach for 27 years.

Boyce has said that when she raised concerns about Nassar to Klages in 1997, the coach then asked the other members of the Michigan State University Youth Gymnastics program if Nassar had done the same thing to them, and one other gymnast said he had.

Klages had Boyce and the other gymnast speak with MSU's gymnasts about Nassar's treatments, Boyce told reporters last year. She added that Klages didn't tell her parents about her complaint and cautioned her against reporting Nassar, saying it could have serious repercussions for Nassar and Boyce.

Boyce said in January during Nassar's Ingham County sentencing hearing that Klages "interrogated" her and the other girl.

"I told somebody. I told an adult. I told Michigan State University back in 1997," Boyce said on the fourth day of the Ingham County sentencing, with her father and husband standing beside her. 

"Instead of being protected, I was humiliated, I was in trouble, and brainwashed into believing that I was the problem."

Last year, the MSU police asked Klages about what Boyce has said. 

"I have beat myself up trying to remember but I have no idea," she told police, according to a report the State Journal obtained through a public records request.

Klages was a frequent target of criticism during Nassar's sentencing hearings, including from former MSU gymnast Lindsey Lemke, who said she was 'disgusted" by Klages. Lemke was an MSU gymnast when allegations against Nassar became public.

Lemke's statement, on the third day of Nassar's Ingham County sentencing, was the first to aggressively take aim at the people and institutions close to Nassar, and the first to get applause from the courtroom gallery.

"Larry, I hope you, Lou Anna Simon, Kathie Klages, John Geddert and all of USAG are scared," she said in January. "Because you have pissed off the wrong army of women."

In a statement released through her attorneys, Lemke said she was relieved to see the charges and truth about Klages come out.

"This is why victims of sexual abuse suffer in silence, because people in power bully them and enable predators," she said. "These charges against Klages validate my truth and represent a huge step forward in my healing process. It is my hope that she will be held accountable for failing to protect me and other young athletes under her care."

Nassar, a former MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor, sexually abused hundreds of women and girls over more than 20 years, many of them at his MSU office. In May, MSU agreed to settle lawsuits filed by hundreds of those victims for $500 million.

In July 2017, Nassar pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges and was sentenced in December to 60 years in prison. His federal appeal was denied Wednesday.

At Nassar's seven-day Ingham County sentencing, 156 women and girls spoke about how Nassar sexually assaulted them. Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced Nassar to 40 to 175 years in prison, telling him she was signing his "death warrant."

In Eaton County, he was sentenced to 40 to 125 years in prison.

He also has filed appeals of those sentences. Both are still pending.