Summary: Dr. Larry Nassar was given up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing over a hundred female gymnasts, many of whom were underage.
The doctor who molested gymnasts for decades has finally been sentenced. This week, Dr. Larry Nassar was given a punishment of up to 175 years in prison, according to CNN.
“I’ve just signed your death warrant,” said Judge Rosemarie Aquilina in a Michigan federal court. “I find that you don’t get it, that you’re a danger. That you remain a danger.”
Nassar was a staff physician for Michigan State University as well as the official doctor for the USA Gymnastics team. He treated hundreds of female athletes, and during his trial, more than 150 women and girls shared that he had abused his position and touched them inappropriately for over 20 years.
In a letter written last week, Nassar accused the judge of seeking fame, and he said that his alleged victims were lying for media attention. He said that he did not have the mental capacity to hear his victims’ stories, which was a part of his trial.
“I was a good doctor because my treatments worked, and those patients that are now speaking out are the same ones that praised and came back over and over,” Nassar wrote. “The media convinced them that everything I did was wrong and bad. They feel I broke their trust. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
Some of Nassar’s accusers include Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, and Simone Biles. Raisman was one of the first victims to go to the media about Nassar’s misconduct, and she is now demanding that USA Gymnastics and the U. S. Olympic Committee be investigated for their complicity in the Nassar scandal, according to PEOPLE.
“Over the weekend, the USOC released a statement shamelessly taking credit for a few USAG resignations (note: not fired), as though they’re addressing this problem,” Raisman wrote in the statement she released on Twitter. “But they are still not acknowledging its own role in this mess. ZERO accountability! It’s like none of us were ever abused!”
On Sunday, USA Gymnastics Board of Directors’ Chairman Paul Parilla, Vice Chairman Jay Binder and Treasurer Bitsy Kelley resigned because of the Nassar scandal.
After the doctor’s sentencing, many legal experts predict that there will be civil lawsuits filed against the gymnastics organizations. Some of the victims said that they had reported that Nassar had touched them inappropriately during medical exams, and that no action was taken to remove him.
In a lawsuit filed in December, Maroney said that she had been paid off after she reported Nassar’s abuse and that the organizations had covered up his criminal actions.
- Lawsuit Claims McKayla Maroney Was Paid to Keep Quiet about Sexual Abuse
- Dr. Larry Nassar Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges