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Attorney for former MSU gymnastics coach Kathie Klages speaks Lansing State Journal

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LANSING - Minutes after former MSU gymnastics coach Kathie Klages was arraigned on charges of lying to police in an investigation related to Larry Nassar, her attorney pointed to timing of the case and Attorney General Bill Schuette's run for governor. 

"I think for the AG, Larry Nassar and anyone associated to him is the gift that keeps on giving," Takura Nyamfukudza told a group of reporters. "We're just a few months away from election season and I think the timing is very interesting. Again, we have great confidence in the justice system that very soon Ms. Klages’ name will be cleared."

Pressed on if he thought the charges were politically motivated, Nyamfukudza said, "I’m just stating the timing is interesting, very close to (the election). Larry Nassar is off the front pages now and here we are again."

Klages was charged last week and the AG's Office initially gave her until the end of Aug. 24 to turn herself in to Lansing police. After communicating with Klages' attorneys, they set the arraignment for Thursday.  

Andrea Bitely, spokeswoman for the AG's Office, denied any political motivation to the charges, which are the result of an investigation announced by Schuette in January. 

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Former Michigan State gymnastics coach Kathie Klages appears via telecom next her attorney Takura Nyamfukudza, while Chief Deputy Attorney General Laura Moody addresses District Judge Louise Alderson during Klages'' arraignment Thursday. (Photo: Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal)

"Lying to a police officer is not related in any way to any ongoing political elections that are occurring," she said. "We allege that the defendant lied to a police officer and it has nothing to do with politics."

Klages, 63, of Mason, faces two counts of lying to police, one a felony and the other a misdemeanor. Klages faces up to four years in prison if convicted. Her bond was set at $5,000, with $500 to be posted for her release.

She appeared during the arraignemnt on video conference from the Lansing police lockup, with Nyamfukudza standing beside her. She was ordered to surrender her passport and not have communication with anyone at MSU connected to the ongoing AG's office investigation.

More: NCAA clears MSU in investigation related to Larry Nassar, basketball and football programs

Earlier this year, two women told investigators that in late 1997 they each met with Klages, who was then the MSU head coach, and told her Nassar sexually assaulted them.

They were teenagers, one 16 and the other 14, and were members of the Spartan Youth Gymnastics program, which Klages ran. The meetings were prompted by the 16-year-old's disclosure to Klages. Klages then spoke with the 14-year-old girl, according to court records.

In June, Klages met with an investigator from the AG's office in Lansing's Old Town neighborhood.

"During the course of the interview, Kathy (sic) Klages was untruthful and denied being told by any gymnast; including witness number one and witness number two; that Larry Nassar sexually assaulted them," AG's office Special Agent David Dwyre testified last week.

That was enough for a magistrate to authorize two charges against Klages.

Related: 'They believed in us': Inside the investigation and prosecution of Larry Nassar

Related: Judge Aquilina denies Larry Nassar's request for new sentence on sexual assault charges

Related: Judges deny Larry Nassar's appeal, uphold sentence on federal child porn convictions

Klages had been the MSU women's gymnastics coach for 27 years when she retired in February 2017, a day after the university suspended her over concerns with the way she handled a September 2016 team meeting after sexual assault allegations against Nassar were made public.

The suspension and retirement came amid growing criticism of Klages, the way women said she handled reports of Nassar's behavior and her defense of Nassar. She told the mother of a victim, according to court records, that the child pornography found on Nassar's property might have been planted.

The two women who told the AG's Office investigators they disclosed their abuse to Klages in 1997 were only referred to as "witness number one" and "witness number two" by Dwyre during the hearing that led to charges.

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Lindsey Lemke, a survivor of sexual abuse by Larry Nassar, spoke to the press Thursday shortly after ex-gymnastics coach Kathie Klages turned herself in to police. Kara Berg, Lansing State Journal

However, Larissa Boyce, now in her 30s, was one of the first women to speak publicly about her abuse. She began doing so in March 2017 and said that in 1997, when she was 16 years old and a member of the Spartan Youth Gymnastics Program, she told Klages about her abuse.

Boyce said that Klages asked the other members of the program if Nassar had done the same thing to them, and one other gymnast said he had.

Boyce told reporters last year that Klages didn't tell her parents about her complaint and cautioned her against reporting Nassar, saying it could have serious repercussions for Nassar and Boyce.

Boyce gave victim-impact statements during Nassar's sentencing hearings in Ingham and Eaton counties. During the Ingham County sentencing, Boyce said Klages "interrogated" her and the other girl.

Last year, MSU police asked Klages about what Boyce had said. 

"I have beat myself up trying to remember but I have no idea," she told police, according to a report the State Journal obtained through a public records request.

Klages was arraigned Thursday morning by District Court Judge Louise Alderson, who will also preside over the preliminary hearing, which will determine if there's enough evidence for Klages to stand trial.

Alderson set Sept. 27 for the preliminary hearing.

Klages is now the second person the AG's Office has charged as part of its investigation of MSU, where Nassar worked for nearly 20 years.

In March, William Strampel, one of Nassar's former bosses and the former dean of MSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine, was charged with felony misconduct in office, a sexual assault charge and a two counts of willful neglect of duty related to actions during and after Nassar's 2014 Title IX investigation.

In June, Nassar and Debbie Van Horn, a former USA Gymnastics trainer, were indicted on sexual assault charges in Texas. Gymnast Mattie Larson said Van Horn was in the room when Nassar abused her.

On Tuesday, USA Gymnastics added Klages to the list of people permanently ineligible for membership within the organization.

Contact Matt Mencarini at (517) 267-1347 or mmencarini@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattMencarini.

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