Lawsuit Claims Michigan Athletic Director Covered Up Rape By Larry Nassar

Larry Nassar is led from the courtroom after being sentenced by Judge Janice Cunningham to 40 to 125 years in prison for three counts of criminal sexual assault in Eaton County Circuit Court

Larry Nassar is facing a lawsuit from a woman he allegedly raped while he was a student at Michigan State's College of Osteopathic Medicine. Erika Davis, who played field hockey at Michigan State University, claims that she told her coach, Martha Ludwig, that Nassar had drugged and raped her. She also described a previous incident of sexual assault where Nassar groped her during a breast cancer exam, which was recorded by another person in the room. Nassar was not a doctor at the time but worked as an athletic trainer at the school. 

Ludwig confronted Nassar and he turned over the tape of the assault. Before the complaint could move forward, the school's Athletic Director, George Perles, intervened and dismissed Davis' complaint. He took the tape from Ludwig and demanded that she sign a non-disclosure agreement. Perles stepped down from his position as athletic director shortly after the incident and currently serves as a trustee at Michigan State

Not long after the school dismissed her complaint, Davis found out that she was pregnant and knew that only Nassar could be the father. After she suffered a miscarriage, she tried to report the crime to Michigan State University Police. She was told by a detective that the department "was powerless to investigate anything that takes place to the athletic department." He warned Davis that she should drop the issue because Perles was a "powerful man."

The lawsuit claims that if Michigan State had pursued the charges against Nassar, instead of covering them up they "could have prevented hundreds of young girls and women from being sexually assaulted."

 Photo: Getty Images


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