Report: Michigan St. Suppressed Allegations Involving Sports Beyond Larry Nassar

In recent years, Michigan State has suppressed information related to sexual assault allegations made against members of the football and basketball teams, according to a report released Friday by Paula Lavigne of ESPN's Outside the Lines.

The report comes after president Lou Anna Simon announced her resignation Wednesday and athletic director Mark Hollis announced his retirement Friday in the wake of former MSU physician Larry Nassar's sentencing to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexual abuse during his time as a doctor for both Michigan State and USA Gymnastics.

Per Lavigne, Michigan State's history of inaction stretches beyond incidents involving Nassar.

Lavigne reported that Michigan State has lost attempts in court to withhold the names of athletes in campus police records three times over the past three years, but many of the incident reports have had so much information deleted from them that they are of little use.

She also laid out several sexual abuse allegations made against members of the football and basketball teams during the respective tenures of head football coach Mark Dantonio and head basketball coach Tom Izzo.

The Big Ten released a statement responding to the report, per Adam Rittenberger of ESPN:

"The conference will continue to closely monitor each of the investigations, along with the numerous lawsuits filed against Michigan State University before drawing any conclusions as to whether there is further action required."

Former Michigan State sexual assault counselor Lauren Allswede disagreed with recent assertions that there is no issue with sexual assault at MSU:

"A lot of the statements that are coming out now ... from Mark Hollis or administration claiming there's no rape culture, is misleading. When there's multiple reports against specific programs, that needs to be followed up on. That needs to be addressed. It's not a coincidence."

At least 16 football players have been accused of sexual assault or violence against women since Dantonio became head coach in 2007.

In 2014, Michigan State redacted players' names when ESPN requested police reports involving football and basketball players. MSU was required to provide the names by a judge, and the school lost a lawsuit against ESPN last year when the company requested additional records.

With regard to the basketball team, former Spartans player and undergraduate student-assistant coach Travis Walton was accused of punching a female Michigan State student in the face at a bar in 2010, and it was also alleged that he sexually assaulted a different female MSU student along with two Spartan basketball players.

While Walton was fired, per a letter written by Allswede, little action was taken against the players.

Walton, however, said he didn't coach at MSU in 2010 because he played professional basketball in Europe and that he was surprised by the rape allegations.

Lavigne also wrote about a 2010 allegation by former Michigan State student Carolyn Schaner, who said she was raped by then-MSU basketball recruits Adreian Payne and Keith Appling.

She said Payne and Appling penetrated her "vaginally, anally and orally" despite her telling them to stop.

In a police video obtained by ESPN, Payne told police he could "understand how she would feel that she was not free to leave."

Appling told ESPN last year that the encounter was consensual and that he never heard Schaner tell them to stop.

Per Lavigne, no charges were filed, and neither Payne nor Appling was disciplined for the alleged incident.

With regard to the culture at MSU, Schaner said: "They're not protecting students at all except the ones that are doing what is wrong. I really felt like I was the only one that this has happened to, and I find out, no, it actually isn't that uncommon."