Angela Povilaitis is a former assistant attorney general of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. In 2018, she gained national media attention as the attorney who led the prosecution of

Larry Nassar Lawrence "Larry" Gerard Nassar (born August 16, 1963) is an American former physician and convicted child rapist. For 18 years, he was the team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team. He used his employment as th ...

, the ex-

USA Gymnastics United States of America Gymnastics (USA Gymnastics or USAG) 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 traini ...

and

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

doctor accused of molestation by hundreds of women and girls.

Early life and education

Povilaitis grew up in

Baldwin, Michigan Baldwin is a village in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 863 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lake County. The village is located on the boundary between Webber Township on the north and Pleasant Plains Township o ...

, and graduated from

Wayne State University Law School Wayne State University Law School (Wayne Law) is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), ...

in 2000.

Career

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

Prosecution of Larry Nassar

Povilaitis, then a Michigan assistant attorney general who prosecuted cases and ran a statewide cold-case sexual assault project, built a case against Larry Nassar with

Police Det. Lt. Andrea Munford after former gymnast

Rachael Denhollander Rachael Joy Denhollander (née Moxon; born December 8, 1984) 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. D ...

filed a complaint and spoke publicly in September 2016 against Nassar, prompting other women to come forward. Povilaitis brought ten charges against Nassar, involving nine victims between 1998 and 2015 in two counties, before he pled guilty. More than 140 others filed civil lawsuits against Nassar, with MSU officials fielding all but fifteen of them.

Aly Raisman Alexandra Rose Raisman (born May 25, 1994) is a retired American artistic gymnast and two-time Olympian. She was captain of both the 2012 "Fierce Five" and 2016 " Final Five" U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics teams, which won their respective tea ...

McKayla Maroney McKayla Rose Maroney (born December 9, 1995) is a retired American artistic gymnast and singer. She was a member of the American women's gymnastics team dubbed the Fierce Five at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the team a ...

Gabby Douglas Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas (born December 31, 1995) is an American artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. She is the Gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 Olympic all around champion and the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Champi ...

and other Olympic gymnasts also accused Nassar of sexual assault during nationally televised interviews or on social media. 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. Povilaitis has won awards for her work, including the first Outstanding Advocate for Victims of Crime award and the 2018 Glamour Women of the Year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Povilaitis, Angela Living people Michigan lawyers Wayne State University Law School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)