Ex-MSU Gymnastics Coach Kathie Klages Gets 90-Day Sentence in Larry Nassar-Related Case

A Michigan judge sentenced former Michigan State gymnastics coach Kathie Klages to 90 days in jail and 18 months probation for lying to police.

Klages was convicted in February of a felony and a misdemeanor for lying to police during a 2018 investigation into former team doctor Larry Nassar's sexual abuse on MSU's campus. The misdemeanor carried up to a two-year prison sentence, while the felony carried up to a four-year prison sentence.

Ingham County Circuit Judge Joyce Draganchuk's decision came after she heard victim impact statements Tuesday from two women who said they told Klages about Nassar's abuse in 1997. The gymnasts were 14 and 16 at the time of the abuse and participating in the Spartans Youth gymnastics program, which Klages oversaw.

One of the women, Larissa Boyce, testified that Klages held up a piece of paper in front of the then-16-year-old and said if she filed a report there could be serious consequences for Boyce.

"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.

Klages, 65, will get credit for one day served. She said she first heard of Nassar's abuse from a 2016 newspaper report and maintains she does not remember being told about the former sports doctor's actions over 20 years ago. 

Nassar was sentenced in 2018 to 40 to 175 years in prison for decades of sexual abuse to hundreds of athletes.

Klages is the second person other than Nassar to be convicted of charges related to his serial molestation of young women and girls under the guise of medical treatment.

Nassar's boss at Michigan State, ex-College of Osteopathic Medicine Dean William Strampel, was sentenced to jail for crimes including neglecting a duty to enforce protocols on Nassar after a patient complained about sexual contact in 2014.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.