Ex-Olympics doctor accused of molesting Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman pleads guilty
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The former US Olympics gymnastics team doctor who molested Gabby Douglas and over 130 other young patients had pleaded guilty to sex crimes. He will stay in prison for at least 25 years.
Larry Nassar admitted to abusing seven young girls, three of them were under the age of 13 at the time they were assaulted. The plea agreement with Michigan prosecutors says he will face between 25 and 40 years of hard time.
“Guilty as stated, your honor,” Nassar said while agreeing that he penetrated the girls with his fingers while pretending to conduct medical exams and other treatments between the years 1998 and 2015.
Nassar, 54, claimed that he was pleading guilty in an effort to help the community “move forward.”
“I pray the rosary every day for their forgiveness,” he stated. “I have no animosity for anyone. I just want healing. It’s time.”
His victims will have their chance to speak at his January 12 sentencing hearing but for now, the Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina has a message for the former doctor on behalf of the victims.
“You used your position of trust that you had in the most vile way, to abuse children,” she stated firmly.
She went on to say that it could take years for victims to heal “while you spend your lifetime behind bars thinking about what you did in taking away their childhood.”
“You were trained as a healer, and what you did was harm them,” the judge said.
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While the hearing was going on, Aly Raisman, one of his victims who was on the 2012 and 2016 Olympic gymnastics teams, stated on Twitter that she was “disgusted” that Nassar was referred to as a doctor even though he lost his medical license.
“Larry is disgusting. Larry is a MONSTER not a doctor,” she posted.
While none of the victims spoke at this latest hearing, several of them held a press conference after it in order to call out USA Gymnastics, who was responsible for making Nassar team doctor.
Rachael Denhollander stated that she was “grateful” for the guilty plea as well as “the army of women who has stopped a pedophile.”
“Today we heard the truth from Larry,” she went on to say. “But we have yet to hear the truth from … officials who kept Larry in power for decades.”
Prosecutors will not oppose concurrent sentencing in the state cases and have no plans to prosecute Nassar for any of the other victims in Michigan.
One of these victims, Kaylee Lorenz, 18, spoke out for the first time on Wednesday saying, “I am tired of being labeled as Jane Doe.”
She thanked Denhollander for being so brave and being the first to bring the assaults to light. She also thanked Raisman and Maroney for adding their voices to the situation, saying, “It helped up to get to where we are today.”
Some say that Michigan State University mishandled complaints against Nassar before the scandal became public and they finally fired him. The school claimed that they had investigated the claims of abuse against the former doctor.
On Wednesday, Michigan State said the conviction “represents another important step toward justice for the victims. As President Simon has said, we recognize the pain sexual violence causes and deeply regret anytime someone in our community experiences it. It takes tremendous courage for victims of sexual violence to come forward.”
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