Michigan’s continuing failure to face this issue head on, which has made it such a cozy place for predators.

For subscribers to the Detroit Free Press:

Natalie Davies | Intern @14natalied11

Good morning, Free Press subscribers, I wrote my first story about alleged sexual misconduct at Interlochen Center for the Arts in December 2025 when the prestigious Up North education campus was mentioned in a lawsuit included in the Epstein files as the place where Jeffrey Epstein found one of his first victims. At the time, I didn’t realize the school was conducting its own independent investigation into decades of sexual abuse or that the Free Press would go on to report that 47 adults who held leadership roles are accused of sexually abusing and exploiting at least 70 students. The entrance to Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen in August 2025. Melanie Maxwell, Detroit Free Press Since then, I’ve spoken with several alumni who say they experienced abuse as students. This week in the Free Press, one alum shared his experience with a faculty member who went on to teach elsewhere for 20 years after the former student told Interlochen staff the teacher sexually abused him on a boat. This accused faculty member was forced out of his position at Appalachian State University in August . He did not respond to requests for comment. The stories are based on accounts of the past, but they’re important to tell even decades later because they’ve left lasting impact on the people involved and their alma mater. This week’s story is one of few included in the investigation report from the year 2000 and beyond. Interlochen’s President Trey Devey has said “Interlochen today is fundamentally different from the institution described in this report.” In recent years, Interlochen has doubled down on safety protocols, such as rigorous background checks, clear professional boundary standards, multiple reporting pathways for those with concerns, coordinated supervision of students and independent assessments of policies, according to a Devey released with the report. Though the school has said it changed, there hasn’t been much legal recourse for survivors under current Michigan statute of limitation laws . Survivors and their legal representation have told me the release of the report and the volume of cases from decades ago renew calls to expand the amount of time survivors of childhood sexual abuse have to file lawsuits. The latest “Justice for Survivors” package passed the Michigan Senate with bipartisan support in May 2025 and has not gone through the House. Now you’re up to date on the latest Interlochen reporting in the Free Press. Thank you for following along with the story and for your subscription that makes this work possible. — Natalie Davies ndavies@freepress.com Scroll for more subscriber-only stories you may have missed this week.

Thanks to a reader for sending this email to me.  Especially because it is a reminder that the Justice for Survivors legislation is stalled in the Michigan House.

Again.  Still.

Leaders in the House Judiciary Committee simply evade/avoid comment.

https://www.wilx.com/2026/08/15/mid-michigan-lawmaker-pushes-reopen-legal-windows-childhood-sexual-abuse-survivors/

How about some continued and deep reporting about why these Michigan representatives are stalling this legislation?  Who are they kowtowing to?  Who are the lobbyists that are causing this failure to act on this legislation that Michigan, of all places, is in dire need of?

Here’s a prompt for you to get you going:

The “Justice for Survivors” bill package remains stalled in the Michigan House of Representatives because it is trapped in a legislative committee without receiving a hearing or a floor vote. Despite passing the Michigan Senate with strong bipartisan support, leadership in the House has not scheduled the legislation for action.

The delay is primarily driven by the following factors:

• Committee Bottleneck: The bill package (Senate Bills 257–261), which aims to drastically extend the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse survivors, is currently sitting idle in the House Judiciary Committee (and previously the Government Operations Committee). Without a scheduled hearing by committee leadership, the bills cannot advance to a full house vote.
• History of Political and Attendance Gridlock: This is the second legislative session where the package has stalled. A previous version passed the Senate in late 2024 but died in the House during the “lame-duck” session due to legislative gridlock and attendance issues where lawmakers failed to show up to session.
• Renewed Bipartisan Pressure: Lawmakers like State Representative Julie Brixie (D) and State Senator Kevin Hertel (D) continue to heavily pressure House leadership to move the bills. The urgency has been magnified by high-profile institutional scandals, such as the Interlochen Center for the Arts abuse investigation.

Advocates point out that Michigan has some of the narrowest statute of limitations laws for childhood sexual abuse in the country, and the stalled legislation is intended to open a one-year civil revival window to let past victims seek legal recourse.