A former Michigan State University field hockey player has alleged former MSU sports doctor Larry Nassar raped and impregnated her in 1992 when he was a graduate student, and that former athletic director and head football coach George Perles covered it up.
Perles is currently a member of the Michigan State Board of Trustees. He’s not commenting at this time, but his son Pat Perles told Michigan Radio he denies the allegations and has no intention of resigning.
The lawsuit was filed earlier this month. The claim was filed in federal court as part of MSU’s $500 million settlement with more than 300 victims who sued the university.
The plaintiff, Erika Davis, claims she went to see Nassar for a sports injury in 1992, when she was 17 years old. Nassar was a student MSU in 1992, not an employee.
According to court documents, Nassar informed Davis that he was conducting a study on flexibility through MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Davis claims Nassar made her take a crushed-up pill without telling her what it was. Davis reports becoming drowsy and waking up to Nassar raping her. She says he also videotaped the assault.
Davis says she went to her field hockey coach, Martha Ludwig, who complained to Perles, according to court documents.
According to the lawsuit, Davis says she told Ludwig what happened, including that the assault was videotaped. The lawsuit alleges Ludwig confronted Nassar about what happened and demanded and received a copy of the recording.
The lawsuit claims Perles intervened, and Ludwig was "forced to return the video, resign and sign a non-disclosure agreement."
When reached at her home in Pennsylvania Sunday afternoon, Ludwig said she did not want to talk about the allegations.
Ludwig, who has not given media interviews about the matter, said she "has nothing to say," and has no memory of that situation at all. She said she wished she could help but that she didn't know Nassar and she isn't talking to anybody.
Davis’ legal complaint says she stopped seeing Nassar after the incident, and also claims she lost her field hockey scholarship soon after.
Davis’ attorneys have, so far, declined to discuss the allegations. Attempts to reach Davis herself have been unsuccessful.
Nassar is serving a 60-year federal prison sentence for child pornography, and is also convicted of sexually assaulting women and girls under the guise of medical treatment.
