New documents suggest MSUPD’s Valerie O’Brien—who was placed on paid administrative leave yesterday—believed Larry Nassar did not sexually assault Amanda Thomashow and took credit for statements that Thomashow herself claims to have made.

Assistant Chief Valerie O’Brien. Photo via MSU.

MSUPD Assistant Chief Valerie O’Brien believed Larry Nassar did not sexually assault Amanda Thomashow despite MSUPD recommending he be charged with doing so, according to e-mails between O’Brien and a prosecutor. Furthermore, a memorandum by a former Title IX investigator suggests that O’Brien—who was placed on paid administrative leave yesterday—claimed that it was investigators, not Thomashow, who suggested that Nassar may have been aroused while examining her.

In April 2014, Thomashow told an MSU Athletics doctor that Nassar had inappropriately touched her during a medical examination. Kristine Moore, a University Title IX investigator, followed up with Thomashow a month later, leading to a meeting between the two on May 29. O’Brien also attended that meeting on behalf of MSUPD.

Thomashow says that she told the two investigators that Nassar had an erection while he examined her and that Nassar “faced the corner of the room, [and was] kind of like – was, like, messing with his hands” while he waited for his erection to subside. Notably, this allegation did not come up during O’Brien’s nearly two-and-a-half-hour interview of Nassar.

Ultimately, Moore’s Title IX investigation cleared Nassar, controversially culminating in two different reports.

E-mails with Prosecutor Show O’Brien Agreed that Nassar Told the Truth

Meanwhile, O’Brien’s criminal investigation resulted in MSUPD requesting that Nassar be charged with fourth degree criminal sexual conduct. Steve Kwasnik, who was then the Ingham County Assistant Prosecutor, rejected that request.

After careful review of the Victim’s statement, the Defendant’s statement and the videos of medical procedures submitted, it appears that what the Dr. is doing is actually a very innovative and helpful manipulation of a ligament located in the butt cheek and lateral to the vaginal opening. he needs to do a much better job of explaining what he is doing to the patient who rightfully might feel violated by his technique if they are not fully aware and consenting to his approached. . . . [Nassar] should have a witness and do a better job explaining his techniques as he sees patients.1 Then-Assistant Prosecutor Steve Kwasnik on why criminal charges would not be authorized against Nassar.





Some (including one of former President Lou Anna Simon’s lawyers) have cited Kwasnik’s denial as evidence that MSU tried to stop Nassar, placing the blame on County prosecutors for failing to do so earlier. But e-mails obtained by On the Banks show that O’Brien, who investigated Thomashow’s complaint, believed Nassar.

Photo via MSU.

When asked by Kwasnik whether O’Brien also thought that charges shouldn’t have been brought, O’Brien responded, “I am in complete agreement with you.” Commenting on her impressions of Nassar, O’Brien remarked, “I also was of the opinion that he was telling the truth during the interview, in conjunction with the videos and research he provided.”

In a December 2018 document describing the status of his investigation into the Nassar scandal, then-Special Prosecutor William Forsyth portrayed O’Brien as reticent when it came to justifying her investigation. “Detective O’Brien has not explained her investigative decisions, as she was unwilling to be interviewed by our investigators,” wrote Forsyth.

Memo Indicates O’Brien Claimed Investigators, Rather than Thomashow, Suggested Nassar was Aroused

Although the investigators initially claimed that Thomashow had not reported seeing Nassar erect, Moore’s handwritten notes from the meeting (which were obtained by journalist Alexandra Ilitch) include the words “I thought weird maybe erect.”

Following this revelation, attorney, author, and Nassar survivor Rachael Denhollander criticized the way the University treated Thomashow, tweeting, “[the two investigators] lied about it. They attacked her. They gaslight her. Knowing the entire time she was telling the truth. That’s vile.”

Former OIE Senior Investigator Liz Abdnour. Photo via Justia.

In response, former Office of Institutional Equity Senior Investigator Liz Abdnour noted that while she was reviewing the Thomashow/Nassar investigation file, she asked O’Brien about the note mentioning Nassar’s possible erection. According to Abdnour, O’Brien claimed that the two investigators discussed the possibility of Nassar being aroused only after Thomashow had left. Abdnour characterized this explanation as “unbelievable,” and she advisedjournalists to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the memorandum she wrote documenting her conversation with O’Brien.

On the Banks did so. The one-page memo serves as contemporaneous evidence that O’Brien claimed she and Moore considered the possibility that Nassar was aroused without prompting from Thomashow. The memo suggests that O’Brien’s claims go even further; according to Abdnour’s notes, O’Brien said that the two investigators explicitly asked Thomashow whether Nassar was aroused, which Thomashow did not confirm.

Questions Remain About O’Brien’s Sudden Administrative Leave

While the University is remaining tight-lipped about why O’Brien was placed on paid administrative leave, some evidence suggests that the decision was sudden.

Acting President Satish Udpa.

The day before being suspended, O’Brien gave a presentation on campus safety at the April 2 meeting of The Steering Committee, an academic governance body with a membership that includes Acting President Satish Udpa and Provost June Youatt; both attended Tuesday’s meeting.

O’Brien—who was coincidentally sitting next to me at that meeting—gave no indication that her employment status was anything but normal.

Indeed, ASMSU Vice President for Internal Affairs Mario Kakos says that O’Brien gave him her business card after he approached her about a potential presentation to the ASMSU General Assembly next year. According to Kakos, O’Brien was “extremely receptive” to presenting to ASMSU. “[O’Brien] told me she could meet with me in the summer and tailor it to what would be most relevant to the GA,” said Kakos.

The Lansing State Journal reports that O’Brien’s husband, MSUPD Detective JJ Bradac, has been on paid administrative leave since February 1, though the University has also declined to comment on the reason for his leave.

1 I should note that Kwasnik previously told The New York Times that he declined to authorize charges because he didn’t feel there was enough evidence to prove the crime occurred beyond a reasonable doubt. I relied on that explanation in explaining why Kwasnik’s decision was a harder one to make than the one in a Title IX investigation. However, Kwasnik’s stated rationale here is that a sexual assault didn’t occur at all, not that it would be too hard to prove it.

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Tyler Silvestri Tyler Silvestri is a third-year law student at MSU who received his bachelor’s degree in Political Theory & Constitutional Democracy from MSU’s James Madison College in 2017. He spent one year as the Assistant Director of ASMSU’s Student Rights Advocates and two years as a Resident Assistant. He is the Chairperson of the University Committee on Academic Governance. He can be reached at Tyler@onthebanksmsu.com. See author's posts