Community Corner
Ex-Athlete Says Nassar Raped, Impregnated Her
A new lawsuit claims a former field hockey player was raped by Larry Nassar and that it was recorded on tape.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A new lawsuit has been filed by a former athlete alleging that Larry Nassar, drugged, raped and impregnated her in 1992, according to a new report. The lawsuit was filed in Grand Rapids, the Detroit Free Press reported, and dates back to when the woman was a Michigan State University field hockey player.
According to the lawsuit, Erika Davis told her coach Martha Ludwig what happened and that the assault was on tape, the Freep reported. Ludwig reportedly obtained the recording after confronting Nassar, but was forced to back down by George Perles, a current Michigan State University trustee who resigned as athletic director in 1992.
According to the lawsuit, Davis said Nassar is the only person who could have been the father and that she later had a miscarriage. Davis also reportedly went to the MSU Police Department, but the lawsuit says she was deterred from making a report and told that the athletic department should handle the complaint. She later lost her athletic scholarship, the lawsuit says.
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MSU spokeswoman Emily Guerrant released this statement about the new lawsuit:
"We are deeply sorry for the abuses Larry Nassar has committed and for the trauma experienced by all sexual assault survivors," she said. "Sexual abuse, assault and relationship violence are not tolerated in our campus community.
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"While the protocols and procedures mentioned in this lawsuit do not reflect how sexual assault claims are handled at MSU, we are taking the allegations very seriously and looking into the situation."
The lawsuit lists MSU, the Board of Trustees, Nassar and USA Gymnastics as defendants, among others.
Nassar, 55, is serving what amounts of a life sentence in a federal penitentiary in Tucson, Arizona.
In 2017, a federal judge sentenced Nassar to 60 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to child pornography charges. In January, a Michigan Circuit Court judge sentenced him to 40 to 175 years on state charges, and in February, another judge sentenced him to another 40 to 125 years in prison.
In all, Nassar has been accused by more than 250 women and girls and one male gymnast.
Read the full story at the Detroit Free Press.
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