On Jan. 24, 2018 a world renowned sports physician to many Olympic gymnasts, Larry Nassar, 54, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison after a sentencing hearing of seven days. Nassar was the caretaker of hundreds of young women, 150 of whom spoke out against him in court for sexual assault allegations.
In 1986, Nassar began working for the USA Gymnastics national team as an athletic trainer. In 1993, Nassar graduated from Michigan State University as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. From 1996 to 2014 Nassar was the national medical coordinator of USA Gymnastics.
In December of 2016, the FBI arrested Nassar after they found more than 37,000 images of child pornography, as well as a video of him molesting underage girls.
In April of 2017, his medical license was revoked for three years. In July of 2017, Nassar pled guilty of receiving child pornography and possessing photos from 2003 to 2016 as well as tampering with evidence in an effort to destroy the images. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison for these convictions.
In November of 2017, Nassar pled guilty to sexually assaulting seven girls under the age of 16.
Seven days of victim impact statements allowed 150 young women, most of which worked for USA Gymnastics and Michigan University, to speak out in court regarding the crimes Nassar had committed to them. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced him to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexual assault against minors.
Many women reported that they had in fact spoke out about the treatments by Nassar, but were disregarded or ignored by organizations in power including USA Gymnastics, U.S. Olympic Committee and Michigan State University.
Rachael Denhollander is a former gymnast who first made the abuse public in 2016, in an interview with IndyStar. She explained all the ways the system had failed her as well as other women and allowed the abuse to happen for so long.
“What was done to myself and these other women and little girls and the fact our sexual violation was enjoyed by Larry matters,” Denhollander said. “It demands justice and the sentence you impose today will send a message about how much these precious women and children are worth.”
Nassar made statements in court apologizing for what he had done.
“There is no words that can describe the depth and breadth for how sorry I am for what has occurred…I will carry your words with me for the rest of my days” said Nassar.
Nassar also admitted to using his trusted medical position to take advantage of young girls under the cover of performing medical treatment.
Before Judge Aquilina delivered the sentence, she read a letter that Nassar had written the court defending his medical care. He said that he was manipulated into pleading guilty, and accused the women of lying.
His letter read, “I was a good doctor because my treatments worked, and those patients that are now speaking out are the same ones that praised my work and came back over and over. The media convinced them everything I did was wrong and bad. They feel I broke their trust. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
After reading the letter, Judge Aquilina stated the letter conveyed Nassar “didn’t get it” and dismissively tossed the letter aside.
She then issued Nassar’s sentence, saying “I’ve just signed your death warrant.”
Several higher ups in USA Gymnastics tendered their resignations last week, including Chairman Paul Parilla, Vice Chairman Jay Binder and Treasurer Bitsy Kelley.
Aly Raisman, Olympic gold medalist and a survivor of the abuse, believes that justice has yet to be served after the sentencing, believing that the organizations Nassar worked at needed to be investigated and held accountable for their roles in the abuse.
“They have to get to the bottom of what happened,” Raisman said. “And until we do that, and until there is an independent investigation, we can’t be sure this won’t happen again. So until I’m sure that these organizations are taking it seriously then there won’t be justice.”
She continued:
“But I don’t even know if you ever feel justice, because it’s never something you heal from. Abuse isn’t just in the moment, it’s for the rest of your life.”
Kali Macklin
Reporter