A Famed Doctor, a Troubled Prosecutor and a Case That Went Untried (06prosecutor) (06prosecutor)

Why is the main focus of this article the fact that Mr. Dunnings paid sex workers instead of the fact that he coerced a woman into sex (read: raped) because she was fighting a custody battle for her children and needed to ensure her case wasn't dropped if she was rejected? Sex work is consensual. Coercing someone he had so much power over was not. It is wildly irresponsible that that only one sentence in the entirety of the article was dedicated to that.

Prostitution is known most obviously as a "victimless crime." Without taking a position on that, it seems most prosecutors understand that it is not where their time is most beneficially used. When you find a prosecutor with such a perverse misallocation of resources, you know there is something amiss. If a reporter is ever short on stories, he or she can always go to the nearest prosecutor making an issue of prostitution. There will inevitably be a scoop there.

Makes me sick and angry.Predators are calculating they know what is at stake for young women-but prosecutors who know how to more than read between the lines side with advantage and power is more than disgraceful-it is willful. I hope the families of these athletes sue the pants off him.As if the reputation of a university program, its $'s and its potential dollars, is the only operative program as well as personal ambition shown by this noxious prosecutor.

in some Muslim cultures castration was the remedy for assaulting young girls. It does fix the problem.... The anger and frustration this mother feels hearing these stories, over and over. Sadly they do have a common theme, whether it was/is the priests in the Catholic church, the story out of Penn State, Roy Moore, Dr. Nassar and his witting and unwitting accomplices. Parents and other adults should never ignore their own basic common sense in favor of giving a 'person of authority' some mythical special attributes that makes them more worthy and more trustworthy. My rule of thumb, as a mom, was to never trust anyone who sought to come in constant contact with children, i.e. volunteer or school baseball coach, you name it. (BTW any man (such as Roy Moore) who needs to date girls much younger than them likely has some kind of serious insecurity problem that is likely symptomatic of an underlying problem and should be steered clear of..., that is just common sense).

THE MASSIVE BETRAYAL OF Public Trust in this case is terrifying. As a psychologist, I am obliged to report suspicions of abuse of children. But moving beyond that to getting child protective agencies to investigate allegations is not easy. Children are encouraged to make a disclosure, to trust. They are told that things will get better. What often what happens if sexual is legally determined to have occurred, is that the kid can be removed from all contact with family until all members are proven to be safe to provide adequate care. Then the kid has to confront the issue of anger because of the betrayal of a family member and guilt because of being responsible for breaking up the family. I am NOT saying that the children are wrong, but rather reflecting the psychological stresses that occur in family dynamics after sexual abuse is uncovered. Often parents separate or divorce and the kids are left with the mother, whose then got to struggle to find the financial resources that will now be absent since the provider may be held in jail. Legally reports and changes must be made. But there is little if any attention paid to the stresses the family members undergo, not the least of which is the intense sense of shame and the need to continue keeping dangerous family secrets. Again, I am NOT saying that things can be any other way. Life is hard. But sexually abused kids get an exceptionally rough deal.

We often see signs along highways which indicate that drivers who speed or run over workers trying to repair the roads will have fines and penalties doubled. Prosecutors, law enforcement, and public officials who trade in public trust should have their sentences doubled as well. Again and again we see these crooked people stealing the trust of the public and abusing office for private gain and getting light sentences as their reward for "public service". Enough already. Reward good service and double penalties for illegal activity.

I was born in 1952 and this is certainly the world as I have seen it. I have had at least one appointment with a doctor who was a molester and many more with physicians having mental and/or ethical problems. Most prosecutors I have known (and I work in the justice system) will do anything to avoid a prosecution unless it is a slam dunk or they have something to gain themselves by prosecuting. It is a shame that in order to prove her allegation that a woman practically has to carry a concealed recording device to all interactions with others.

So Nassar asked to be alone with these girls and the clinic staff never reported that? A doctor asking to be alone? So he must have been alone with them for a period of time, over and over. As a nurse, I find that appalling Where was the integrity of his medical staff? Shouldn’t they have to answer to this?

I would like to see civil charges brought againts the men (in authority positions) who let these young women down. Surely Mr. Dunnings, Mr. Kwasnik and Mr. Schuette have earned stronger consequences than public condemnation.

Terrible headline. "Troubled" prosecutor? Who pleaded guilty to...crimes? Sounds more like a criminal to me....

This is getting ridiculous. Just put the women in charge of everything. Time for the men to retire to their caves.

What sick, disgusting people 'these people are whose jobs were to protect these young girls. They should all be fired and put in prison. Why would anyone go to them now to be protected, for justice?

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who will guard against the guardians themselves? In the few cases like this one that do surface, I suggest some strong hard justice should be administered.

I’d love to see Julie and Monica produce a follow-up article on what other cases did Dunnings and his office squash from being prosecuted. There has been several prominent Michigan State basketball players in the news for alleged misconduct, yet nothing was brought against the school, the program or the individuals involved. Sadly, this may be just the beginning.

Times seems to have bought the Putin line that Russia's buildup is only in response to US missile defense.

yet another case,like the gunman in the recent Florida shootings,where the horror could have been stopped so much earlier, if only police and prosecutors had simply done their jobs.these young women, like the students in Parkland, were failed,indeed, betrayed, by the very people sworn to protect them.

And what of Mr Krasnik? He stands by his decision. Which was clearly wrong.

"Mr. Schuette, who is now seeking the Republican nomination for governor of Michigan, offered Mr. Dunnings a plea deal; he was sentenced to a year in jail and three years of probation." There was no penalty for the gross dereliction of his sworn duty. Or for the consequences of his dereliction. How many people suffer because of the failings of our system of justice?

Keep up the good reporting on this, don’t quit until every sordid detail about what went on in that exam room is out. Justice demands leaving nothing to the public’s imagination.

This is all a tragedy. It hurt the most vulnerable in our society and scarred them for life - young folks and minors at that. How many times have we now had these cases of public officials claiming to be so pure that no one can doubt. Yet, they come out scoundrels. If there is anything good put of this, perhaps some other folks reporting to such a self described pure person will have a courage to say, "wait a minute. It does not look so good as it is made out to be." I have been to several Olympics and think a world of these athletes. Yet, I am mystified how this vile doctor was allowed to be near these young athletes for so long. I wish there would be some investigation that could point to actions on how this can be prevented in future.

Why is it that this prosecutor (and countless other people) was convicted of solicitation and paying for sex when Trump has supposedly offered money to women in exchange for sex and gotten away with it? Is it that the law sees nuance in the subtle distinction between a woman who is paid to be an "escort" and who then also has sex versus the more straightforward transaction for sex between a call girl or street-level prostitute? Or is the "nuance" simply that someone wealthy or connected is involved?

This is Reason #2,937,109 why you always fail giving government at any level even more responsibilities. Government can never even do the things that we need it to do. There is no logic in thinking up new things for it to do that were never its business. Must gov't keep tack of crazy people? Yes, if that is the only way to protect the innocent. But government instigating a Promise program to keep young criminals from even being arrested puts people in danger, and it ends up with an Eric Holder and a Barack Obama putting AR-15s in the hands of young killers.

Past time to find out more about Steve Kwasnik and why he blocked further investigation of Nassar. Something's rotten in Michigan alright.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, brave Amanda Thomashow, for being a true changemaker. With your courage, you made our world a better place to be, for all. I hope to see you one day in a position of power, a Congresswoman, a Senator, or even as a future President.

After the victim thought Nasser was inappropriate why did she stay in the room after the chaperone left, and allow him to continue to touch her in an even more sensitive area of the body? When we know the answer to this, we will understand how Nasser got away so long.

I hope that the gymnasts like Aly Raisman also personally sues Mr. Dunning and anyone in his office who prevented this case from moving forward.

The case prosecutor who declined the Nassar case probably did so for legitimate reasons. Maybe it was lack of substantiation by other witnesses. Maybe it was expert testimony defending the doctor's methods. At any rate, the prosecutor can't tell us because of rules of confidentiality. Surely, the DA's office kept prosecuting cases despite Mr. Dunning's problems. And there is no indication that Mr. Dunning had any reason to block this case. All that is proven here is that the case was declined for reasons the case prosecutor continues to stand by.

We defer to men of stature even when all the evidence is screaming to the contrary.

I absolutely believe in proprietorial discretion, prosecutors are often a good check against police bias or even police misconduct. But, how many times does it take for these women to report Nassar before someone would take notice. It took the press to get involved first, which is why a free and fair and well founded press is so important.

I've travelled a lot, read papers from several countries and lived in a country other than my own for a number of years. it hard for me not to believe that the usa is the most corrupt western democracy on the planet. the vaunted 'best legal system in the world' seems to be something americans say without a clue what goes on in other countries.

Doesn't surprise me, shouldn't surprise anyone really. Our country's highest offices are being handed over, run by either incompetent self-serving bozos, or pretentiously over-educated dweebs who are more interested in serving their friends and/or family's needs than they are in serving their public. Our country is in deep trouble and this is just the half of it.

“I betrayed the trust of the people.” Yes, he did. And so did the assistant prosecutor. When someone finally prosecuted Nassar, it was a slam dunk. The worst DA's only pursue cases they think they can easily win. Justice suffers.

This is why it is so important to root out all types of misbehavior - not due to personal moral rectitude, but because it compromises and rots government institutions from the top and from within (as seem with our sitting president ) which, unlike tax cuts) really trickles down to other victims

"A female resident left the room..." -- this requires follow-up, because surely this incident would not have occurred if she had remained in the room. Wasn't it unusual (if not against established policy) for a male doctor to ask a female resident to leave the room just before performing a sensitive examination on a female patient? Didn't this raise red flags? Did the resident question why she was being asked to leave at the time or at any later time? Did she tell anyone that Dr. Nassar asked her to leave?

Behind the prosecution of most crooks, the prosecuted and the unprosecuted, there is a crooked prosecutor. I vowed long ago to NEVER vote for the death penalty regardless of the crime because crooked prosecutors NEVER have to pay for their crimes.

Dunnings is gone. Check out Steve Kwasnik and the handling of Ms. Thomashaw's complaint; surely the office documents its basis for decisions. Kwasnik reports “Given the information available to me at the time, this was the correct decision and I stand by that decision.” Someone should test this by reviewing the case, and learn how a doctor can be administratively protected after sexually assaulting a patient who complains properly. Further, Mr. Dunnings' astonishingly lenient 1 year plea deal should lead to a broader investigation into Mr. Schuette's role - was this type of dealing down from 20 year felony charges also available to ordinary criminals who had not been part of the powered elite? These outcomes are both uncaring violations of the public trust, granting favored treatment to insiders that would never be granted to an outsider.

Dunnings reminds me of Eliot Spitzer, who also was eager to ban prostitution with tougher penalties, even while he paid large sums to have sex with prostitutes. I don't trust people who are vocally opposed to homosexuality or prostitution. There may be a secret they are keeping the closet. They would be better off minding their own business.

As usual - powerful men using and abusing powerless women and getting away with it for years. I am so glad they are finally getting punished but the damage is done. No more!

Power tends to have a damaging effect on the brain. The prosecutor likely was not bothered by his behavior. Nevertheless, some people tend to have a predilection for doing the wrong thing which only gets worse as they get away with worse and worse behavior. For example, Hillary Clinton was determined to be unethical early in her career: “[Hillary] was a liar,” Zeifman said in an interview. “She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality.” During the Whitewater scandal, Hillary Clinton violated the subpoenas. Two years after the subpoenas were issued, the Rose Law Firm records were found in a book room in the private family quarters on the third floor of the White House. As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton hid a a server in house in New York which she used to conduct official business in violation of the law. Her tendency toward dishonesty and incompetence only got worse as she got older. In 1973, Hillary Clinton was refused admittance to the DC Bar -- the easiest to be admitted to in the country. Larry Nassar and Hillary Clinton are peas from the same pod. Society needs to do a better job of weeding out these people before the rise to greater power.

"In his early years as a prosecutor, Mr. Dunnings made a name for himself in part by aggressively pursuing prostitution cases, and taking special, public aim at people involved in human trafficking" I'm pleased that he worked so hard to combat these cases and abuses, but I'm saddened that he ended up not only taking part in it himself, but also becoming an accomplice to Dr. Larry Nassar by refusing to prosecute him. The hypocrisy is astounding, but also so well-documented among others accused of sex crimes: aggressively denounce the act publicly while simultaneously engaging in it privately.

Kwasnik needs to be investigated. Sexual assualt accusations, especially imvolving a doctor, must be pursued and investigated by the DA, and not ignored when the burden isnt readily met. Women are generally not going to report such an assault for no good reason. This is not an uncommon reaction for DAs. They need to wake up. Kwasnik failed in his duties.