Angela Povilaitis

Last updated

Angela Povilaitis is a former assistant attorney general of Michigan. [1] In 2018, she gained national media attention as the attorney who led the prosecution [2] of Larry Nassar, the ex-USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor accused of molestation by hundreds of women and girls. [3] [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Angela grew up in Baldwin Michigan. Povilaitis graduated from Wayne State University Law School in 2000. [5]

Career

Povilaitis is now a staff policy attorney with the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Treatment and Prevention Board. [6]

Prosecution of Larry Nassar

Povilaitis, then a Michigan assistant attorney general who prosecuted cases and ran a statewide cold-case sexual assault project, [7] built a case against Larry Nassar with Michigan State University Police Det. Lt. Andrea Munford after former gymnast Rachael Denhollander filed a complaint and spoke publicly in September 2016 against Nassar, prompting other women to come forward. [2]

Povilaitis brought ten charges against Nassar involving nine victims between 1998-2015 in two counties before he pled guilty. [8] [9] The charges were only a part of the case: more than 140 others filed civil lawsuits against Nassar, with MSU officials fielding all but fifteen of them. [9] Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, Gabby Douglas and other Olympic gymnasts, also accused Nassar of sexual assault during nationally televised interviews or on social media. [9]

In January and February 2018, more than 200 women spoke before two Michigan county judges about the impact that Nassar's abuse had on their lives, and their testimonies were broadcast around the world. [10] [11]

Povilaitis has won some awards for her work including the first Outstanding Advocate for Victims of Crime award [6] and the 2018 Glamour Women of the Year. [12] [13]

Related Research Articles

John Engler American politician

John Mathias Engler is an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th Governor of Michigan from 1991 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he later worked for Business Roundtable, where The Hill called him one of the country's top lobbyists.

Michigan State University Public university in East Lansing, Michigan

Michigan State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. MSU was founded in 1855 and served as a model for land-grant colleges and universities later created under the Morrill Act of 1862. The university was founded as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, one of the country's first institutions of higher education to teach scientific agriculture. After the introduction of the Morrill Act, the college became coeducational and expanded its curriculum beyond agriculture. Today, MSU is one of the largest universities in the United States and has approximately 634,300 living alumni worldwide.

Michigan State University College of Law

The Michigan State University College of Law is the law school of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. Established in 1891 as the Detroit College of Law, it was the first law school in the Detroit, Michigan area and the second in the state of Michigan. In October 2018, the college began a process to fully integrate into Michigan State University, changing from a private to a public law school. The integration with Michigan State University was finalized on August 17, 2020.

Lou Anna Simon

Lou Anna Kimsey Simon is an American academic administrator who served as the 20th president of Michigan State University (MSU). Simon was appointed interim president of the university in 2003, then served as president from 2005 until her resignation in 2018.

<i>The Indianapolis Star</i> Newspaper in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.

The Indianapolis Star is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the Indianapolis News ceased publication. It won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2021 and the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting twice, in 1975 and 1991. It is currently owned by Gannett.

Mateen Cleaves American basketball player

Mateen Ahmad Cleaves is a retired American basketball player. He played parts of six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an All-American college player for Michigan State, where he led the Spartans to a national championship in 2000.

USA Gymnastics National gymnastics governing body

United States of America Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Established in 1963 as the U.S. Gymnastics Federation (USGF), USA Gymnastics is responsible for selecting and training national teams for the Olympic Games and World Championships. The mission of USA Gymnastics is to encourage participation and the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of gymnastics.

Kym Loren Worthy is the current prosecutor of Wayne County, Michigan, home to the city of Detroit. She is the first African-American woman to serve as a county prosecutor in Michigan. She became internationally recognized for prosecuting then Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick at the beginning of March 2008.

Rosemarie Elizabeth Aquilina is a German-American judge. She is a judge of the 30th circuit court in Ingham County, Michigan. Previously, Aquilina was the 55th District Court Judge, where she served as both a Sobriety Court Judge as well as the Chief Judge. She is the judge who sentenced Larry Nassar in the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal.

Thomas L. Leonard III is an American attorney and politician. He is a former member of the Michigan House of Representatives who served as Speaker of the House from 2017 to 2019. Elected in 2012 to succeed term-limited Paul Opsommer, Leonard represented the residents of Clinton and Gratiot County. Prior to that, he worked as a prosecutor. Leonard unsuccessfully ran for Michigan Attorney General in 2018 and was nominated by President Donald Trump to be the United States Attorney for the Western District of Michigan.

John Geddert American gymnastics coach

John Gerald Geddert was an American artistic gymnastics coach, who was a head coach of the gold-medal 2012 U.S. women's Olympic team and regular coach of team member Jordyn Wieber. He retired when suspended by USA Gymnastics in 2018 after being implicated in the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal centered on his long-time associate Larry Nassar. Geddert died by suicide in 2021, shortly after being charged with 24 criminal charges, including 20 counts of human trafficking of a minor, one count each of first-degree criminal sexual assault, second-degree criminal sexual assault involving a minor, and lying to a peace officer.

Marylou Olivarez Mason is a former American civil servant of Hispanic descent.

The USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal relates to the sexual abuse of female athletes—primarily minors at the time of the abuse—over two decades in the United States, starting in the late 1990s. More than 368 people alleged that they were sexually assaulted "by gym owners, coaches, and staff working for gymnastics programs across the country." Longtime USA Gymnastics (USAG) national team doctor Larry Nassar was specifically named in hundreds of lawsuits filed by athletes who said that Nassar engaged in sexual abuse for at least 14 years under the pretense of providing medical treatment. Since the scandal was first reported by The Indianapolis Star in September 2016, more than 265 women, including former USAG national team members Jessica Howard, Jamie Dantzscher, Morgan White, Jeanette Antolin, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Maggie Nichols, Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles, Jordyn Wieber, Sabrina Vega, Ashton Locklear, Kyla Ross, Madison Kocian, Amanda Jetter, Tasha Schwikert, Mattie Larson, Bailie Key, Kennedy Baker, Alyssa Baumann, and Terin Humphrey have accused Nassar of sexually assaulting them. It is considered the largest sexual abuse scandal in sports history.

Larry Nassar American convicted sex offender and former osteopath

Lawrence Gerard Nassar is an American convicted rapist and former Osteopathic physician. For 18 years, he was the team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team, which gave him access to hundreds of girls and young women whom he sexually abused.

June Youatt is an American university professor and former administrator, holding the posts of Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies as well as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Michigan State University (MSU).

2017 in Michigan

Events from the year 2017 in Michigan.

2018 in Michigan

Events from the year 2018 in Michigan.

Rachael Joy Denhollander is an American lawyer and former gymnast. She was the first woman to publicly accuse Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor, of sexual assault. Denhollander is 2018 Glamour Woman of the Year and was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018. On Wednesday, December 15, Rachael Denhollander accepted the 2021 Abraham Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life.

Dana Nessel American politician and lawyer (born 1969)

Dana Michelle Nessel is an American lawyer and politician who is the 54th Attorney General of Michigan. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Marisa Kwiatkowski is an American journalist and investigative reporter at USA Today, known for her reporting of the USA Gymnastics' sexual abuse scandal.

References

  1. ↑ "Read prosecutor's statement at Larry Nassar sentencing". CNN. CNN. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Inside the investigation and prosecution of Larry Nassar". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  3. ↑ "Attorney: Ex-USA Gymnastics head didn't know of indictment". Kansas City Star. Kansas City Star. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "Watch as serial molester Larry Nassar is attacked in court by victims' dad". NJ. NJ. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  5. ↑ "Angela Povilaitis". Crains Detroit. Crains Detroit. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Prosecutor in Nassar case takes new job with state sexual assault, domestic violence board". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  7. ↑ "Notable Women Lawyers - Angela Povilaitis". Crain's Detroit Business. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  8. ↑ "Larry Nassar makes 7 guilty pleas, victim calls him 'master manipulator'". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  9. 1 2 3 "MSU doctor pleads guilty to more charges". Detroit News. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  10. ↑ "Disgraced US Olympics doctor jailed". BBC News. 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  11. ↑ "Former US gymnastics doctor Nassar 'sorry' as he is jailed for up to 125 more years". Sky News. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  12. ↑ "Sister Army named as part of Glamour's 2018 'Women of the Year' honorees". The State News. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  13. ↑ "The Army of Women Who Took Down Larry Nassar". Glamour. Glamour. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.