Ex-Michigan State coach set for trial in Nassar scandal

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A trial was expected to get underway Monday for a former Michigan State gymnastics coach charged with lying to investigators in connection with the sexual assault complaints against former sports doctor Larry Nassar.

The trial for Kathie Klages was set to start with jury selection in an Ingham County courtroom. Prosecutors have alleged that Klages, who resigned in 2017 after being suspended, denied she had been told of Nassar’s sexual misconduct before 2016. Specifically, she has denied allegations that former gymnast Larissa Boyce told her that Nassar abused her in 1997, when Boyce was 16.

Klages was charged with two counts of lying to an officer: a felony and a misdemeanor. The felony charge is punishable by up to four years in prison and the misdemeanor up to two years.

Nassar is serving decades in prison for sexual assault and child pornography crimes. More than 300 victims, mostly young women and girls, say he molested them under the guise of treatment for back problems and other injuries.