MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A woman whose assault complaint against Larry Nassar was dismissed without charges being filed in 2004 accepted an apology years later Thursday from a Michigan police chief who said, “We wish we had this one back.”

Brianne Randall-Gay was 17 when she told Meridian Township police that Nassar had molested her with ungloved hands when she sought help for her back. Officers, however, closed the case after the Michigan State University sports doctor offered an aggressive defense and said he was using a legitimate medical technique.

“It should have been passed on to another expert and it wasn’t,” said police Chief Dave Hall, who called that misstep the “downfall” of the investigation.

Randall-Gay, who participated in the news conference by video from Washington state, said the public apology eases her pain but doesn’t “erase the pain I’ve suffered” since 2004.

“I felt like my complaint was ignored. I felt like I was ignored,” she recalled.