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Former Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon has been accused of lying to the police, the latest charges being investigated by the state on the university at the following the sexual assault scandal Larry Nassar.
Simon was indicted in the Eaton County District Court for two crimes and two counts of misdemeanor of lying to a peace officer. The date of the indictment has not yet been fixed, by a court administrator.
According to the warrant issued by the Attorney General's Office, Simon told investigators that she was unaware of any specific investigation on Nassar before 2016 "while she knew that 39 was Larry Nassar who had been the subject of the 2014 MSU Title IX survey. "
A spokesman for the Attorney General's office declined to comment further.
In a statement, MSU spokeswoman Emily Guerrant said the university was aware of the charges against Simon and that Simon was taking immediate leave without pay to focus on his legal situation. . "
In January, Simon retired from the presidency due to the controversy surrounding Nassar's treatment at the university, which had been sentenced earlier this year for sexual charges and charges of federal child pornography.
In a letter posted on MSU's website at the time of his resignation, Simon said that "last year was very difficult for Larry Nassar's victims, for the university community and for me personally".
"As tragedies are politicized, blame is inevitable, and as president, it is natural for me to be at the center of this anger, which I understand, and that is why I have limited my personal statements throughout my career. I worked at the MSU team first: throughout my career, I have constantly talked and worked for the MSU team. I urge those who have supported my work to understand that I can not do this about myself, so I am resigning as president under the terms of my employment agreement ", a- she writes.
A group of victims from Nassar, members of the MSU community and public officials had asked her to step down before her resignation, claiming that she and other members of the administration were not allowed to return. were not transparent about who knew what when and did not assume responsibility for institutional failures. these critics say they allowed Nassar's abuse.
After his resignation, former Gov. John Engler was appointed acting president of the MSU. Although his brief term was fraught with controversy, Engler remained acting president and led the university to a $ 500 million settlement with the victims of Nassar.
Simon was forced to testify this summer in front of a group of US senators who were interested in sexual abuse in athletics, where she apologized for the mistreatment of survivors of Nassar.
Michigan State President Lou Anna Simon resigns
An MSU employee and renowned gymnastics doctor, Nassar has abused many women for decades during her medical practice. He had been the subject of a Title IX complaint in 2014, but had finally been allowed to continue seeing patients until victims began to come forward publicly in September 2016 .
Nassar pleaded guilty in all three criminal cases against him and was sentenced to 60 years in prison on charges of child pornography, 40 to 175 years of sexual abuse in Ingham County and 40 to 125 years in Eaton County. He is currently serving his federal sentence and is imprisoned in Florida.
Many of the Nassar victims remained severely critical of the MSU administration and how they continued to deal with the Nassar case.
Special attention was paid to the treatment by the university of the complaint filed in 2014 under Title IX by Amanda Thomashow, who claimed that Nassar had assaulted her during a visit to the MSU Sports Medicine Clinic in March 2014 for a hip injury.
The university finally cleared Nassar of any wrongdoing, issuing a report claiming that Tomashow had not understood the "nuanced difference" between sexual assault and medical treatment. Nassar was allowed to return to work by his boss, Dr. William Strampel.
In an investigation by a Michigan committee, lawmakers discovered that MSU had botched treatment of the Nassar investigation and that by doing so, "could have allowed the abuse of others that would have otherwise could be avoided ".
How legislators say Nassar has exploited the shortcomings of the MSU's policy of mistreating patients
The new charges filed Tuesday make Simon the third person charged as part of the investigation of the Attorney General's office in the Nassar case.
Strampel, the former dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine who was the leader of Nassar, is charged with malpractice, fourth-degree criminal sexual behavior and two counts of willful negligence. Kathie Klages, a former MSU gymnastics coach, is accused of lying to the police on two counts.
Both cases are pending before the Ingham County District Court.
The former Michigan State President, Lou Anna Simon, apologizes for the Nassar scandal
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