EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State University has begun sending documents from its investigation into convicted sexual abuser Larry Nassar to state Attorney General Dana Nessel, the school said Friday.
A group of 2,000 documents was being transferred Friday, but the transfer of all 9,000 documents will take about a month, school spokesperson Emily Guerrant said.
The university is reviewing the documents and making redactions in line with privacy laws before sending them, Guerrant said.
“The university is committed to a trauma-informed approach throughout this process,” MSU said in a news release. “This includes working closely with the attorney general’s office to ensure the handling of the documents prioritizes confidentiality and privacy.”
“The document transfer process will happen in several batches as the documents become ready after appropriate review and redactions are completed. The goal is to have this process completed in its entirety by the end of March,” the release said.
The university has held onto some Nassar documents for years, claiming attorney-client privilege. But MSU’s board of trustees waived that privilege on Dec. 15.
The attorney general’s office has sought the documents since 2018, when Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison after admitting to molesting some of the nation’s top gymnasts for years under the guise of medical treatment. He was accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of women and girls.
Michigan State has been criticized for its handling of the Nassar investigation and its dealings with survivors in the aftermath of his arrest and conviction. The school has settled lawsuits filed by Nassar victims for $500 million.
Nessel said in December when the trustees voted to turn over the documents that her office will review them and reopen and expedite its investigation as soon as they are received.
“The students, the MSU community at-large, and most importantly, the victims of Larry Nassar have long been owed this transparency,” Nessel said at the time.
Nessel previously had asked the school to release the documents to help shine a light on what the school knew about Nassar’s abuse. She ended her investigation of the school’s handling of the Nassar case in 2021 because the university refused to provide documents related to the scandal.