Kathie Klages Handed 90-Day Jail Time for Involvement in Nassar-Related Case

LANSING, KOMPAS.com - A former Michigan State University gymnastics coach Kathie Klages has been sentenced to jail for her role in the Larry Nassar abuse case.

Kathie must undergo 90 days in jail after she lied to police during an investigation into former Olympic and university doctor Larry Nassar.

The 65-year-old ex-gymnastics coach was found guilty in February of a felony and misdemeanor for denying she knew of Larry Nassar’s abuse prior to 2016.

At that time, survivors started to come forward publicly. Kathie Klages was also sentenced to 18 months of probation.

Klages testified at trial, and in a tearful statement Tuesday, that she did not remember being told about the abuse.

She said she had been seeing a therapist to try to remember the conversations, and she apologized to victims if they occurred.

“Even when I don’t express it to others, I struggle with what I’ve been accused of and what my role in this tragedy may have been,” she said in court.

Two women testified in November 2018 that they told Klages in 1997 that Nassar had sexually abused them and spoke Tuesday in court ahead of the sentencing.

One of the women, Larissa Boyce, testified that Klages held up a piece of paper in front of the then-teenager and warned that if she filed a report there could be serious consequences.

“I am standing here representing my 16-year-old self who was silenced and humiliated 23 years ago and, unfortunately, all of the hundreds of girls that were abused after me,” Boyce said.