Ingham County Prosecutor Gretchen Whitmer is calling for an independent investigation into how Michigan State University handled the situations surrounding Larry Nassar and the accusations of sexual assault while he was employed by the university’s gymnastics program.
Whitmer, the former Senate Democratic Leader, served as Ingham County’s Prosecutor and oversaw the approval of initial search warrants in the Nassar cases.
Among the more than 140 women who have joined civil suits against MSU, USA Gymnastics and others are those alleging that MSU gymnastics and administrators ignored warning signs and did not investigate complaints, dating back as far as the 1990s.
“My heart breaks for these survivors because Larry Nassar was able to get away with this for so long and they won’t have justice until we have a fair, objective and independent investigation," said Whitmer.
"We owe it to the victims of these heinous crimes and others of this institutional failure to find out who knew what, and when. The Attorney General brought charges a year ago and there still hasn't been an independent investigation."
Thursday, Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal child pornography charges. In addition, he is scheduled to be sentenced in Ingham and Eaton Counties in January for criminal sexual abuse.
Former US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is conducting an internal investigation at the request of the university.
