Elite Gymnasts To Speak At Sentencing Of Disgraced Ex-Doctor
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Many of the young elite gymnasts who were sexually assaulted by disgraced former Michigan sports doctor Larry Nassar plan to testify about how that abuse shook their lives, during his sentencing hearing that started Tuesday.
A family friend was the first victim on the stand. She is among nearly 90 women and girls who will be allowed to testify during the extraordinary four-day hearing in Lansing, Michigan.
Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina is expected to order a sentence Friday.
Nassar, 54, pleaded guilty to molesting females with his hands at his Michigan State University office, his home and a Lansing-area gymnastics club. He also worked for Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians.
The Michigan attorney general's office is seeking 40 to 125 years in prison for the 54-year-old Nassar. The maximum represents a year for each of the 125 girls and women who filed reports of abuse with campus police. He already has been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for child pornography crimes.
Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles on Monday said she was among the athletes sexually abused by Nassar. Another gold medalist, Aly Raisman, tweeted Monday that she would not attend the sentencing "because it is too traumatic for me. My impact letter will be read in court in front of Nassar. I support the brave survivors. We are all in this together."
Olympians McKayla Maroney and Gabby Douglas also have said they were among Nassar's victims as teens.
In November, he admitted to digitally penetrating 10 girls, mostly under the guise of treatment, between 1998 and 2015. As part of plea deals in two adjacent Michigan counties, he said his conduct had no legitimate medical purpose and that he did not have the girls' consent.
Nassar is scheduled to be sentenced in Eaton County in two weeks.
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