Lou Anna K. Simon, the former president of Michigan State University, was charged on Tuesday with two felonies, accused of lying to the police about her knowledge of sexual abuse committed by Dr. Lawrence G. Nassar.
The charges were the latest blow against Michigan State, which employed Dr. Nassar for years as he preyed on young women, and a warning to other institutions about the consequences they could face for failing to stop abuse. As the scope of Dr. Nassar’s crimes has become clear, Michigan State leaders have been accused of ignoring warning signs, disrespecting victims, and covering up misconduct, and the university has been rocked by resignations, protests and a $500 million settlement.
John Manly, a lawyer for more than 100 women who were abused by Dr. Nassar, said the charges against the university’s highest-ranking official had brought his clients “a level of vindication that’s hard to describe.” Mr. Manly said the prosecution sent a signal to leaders of other organizations where abuse has taken place. “I think I’d be looking over my shoulder if I were them,” he said. “And if you really want to stop this sort of abuse, you’ve got to send people the message that, ‘You’re going to go to jail.’”
Dr. Simon, who resigned in January under pressure, was accused in court documents of falsely telling investigators that she did not know the nature of a Title IX complaint against Dr. Nassar in 2014.
Dr. Simon, who also faces two misdemeanor counts, could face up to four years in prison on each of the felony charges. She is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday in Eaton County, Mich., and has denied criminal wrongdoing.
“The only crime committed is the criminal complaint,” said Mayer Morganroth, Dr. Simon’s lawyer, in an email on Tuesday. “It is political and completely false and the responsible party will pay for it. Shame on them.”
Dr. Simon, who was named a “distinguished professor” at Michigan State after retiring as university president, developed a national profile over more than a decade leading one of the country’s largest public universities. She served for a period as chairwoman of the N.C.A.A. executive committee and was renowned for her fund-raising abilities.
It is rare, though not unheard-of, for prosecutors to try to hold university leaders criminally responsible for their handling of misconduct by others. A former president of Pennsylvania State University, Graham B. Spanier, was convicted in 2017 of one misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child in the molestation scandal that roiled that university.
Dr. Nassar, a faculty member at Michigan State, worked as a doctor for the university and national gymnastics teams. For years, he abused his patients under the guise of legitimate medical care. At emotional sentencing hearings this year, scores of those patients, including Olympians, described the abuse and spoke of the impact it had had on them. Dr. Nassar is now serving what is effectively a life sentence in prison.
Lindsey Lemke, who was abused by Dr. Nassar and who confronted Dr. Simon in court during his sentencing, praised the charges on Twitter. Ms. Lemke said it was clear Dr. Simon had “tried to hide from this situation and only protect herself.”
“This serves as a statement that we are continuing to hold our fight and that we are not backing down until all enablers are held accountable for their poor actions,” Ms. Lemke said.
University officials did not respond to questions about the charges, including whether they would affect Dr. Simon’s employment status. As president of the university, her salary had been $750,000 a year.
Dr. Simon is among several high-profile figures to face accusations of failing to properly respond to claims against Dr. Nassar, of covering up crimes or of lying about what they knew. The scope and duration of Dr. Nassar’s crimes led to national outcry, multiple criminal investigations and close scrutiny of high-ranking officials in gymnastics and higher education. Several officials have resigned or been fired, and at least three others have faced criminal charges.
Steve Penny, the former chief executive of U.S.A. Gymnastics, was indicted by a Texas grand jury in September on charges that he tampered with evidence relating to abuse by Dr. Nassar. Kathie Klages, a former Michigan State gymnastics coach, was charged in August with lying to the authorities about her knowledge of Dr. Nassar’s crimes. And Dr. William D. Strampel, Dr. Nassar’s boss at Michigan State, was charged in March with committing sexual misconduct himself.
The charges against Dr. Simon were filed in state court by William Forsyth, a special prosecutor appointed by the Michigan attorney general, Bill Schuette, to investigate how the university handled complaints against Dr. Nassar.
Neither Mr. Forsyth nor Mr. Schuette made a public statement about the charges, and it is unclear whether others could still be arrested. Mr. Schuette, a Republican who ran for governor this month and lost, will leave office in January. Both Michigan’s current governor, Rick Snyder, a Republican, and the governor-elect, Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, declined to comment Tuesday about the charges.
For months before Dr. Simon stepped down as Michigan State’s president, she had faced pointed public criticism for failing to do more to stop Dr. Nassar.
Outside one of Dr. Nassar’s legal proceedings early this year, Dr. Simon answered questions from a crush of news reporters. Asked what she would say to abuse survivors and parents, she said, “I think there are steps being made towards accountability. And there are other steps that will follow. And some of it will have to occur in a setting that’s a rule of law. Others will occur in other forms.”