Larry Nassar, ex-USA Gymnastics team doctor, ordered to stand trial on sex assault charges
MASON, Mich. -- A judge has ordered a former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics sports doctor to stand trial on sexual assault charges.
Judge Donald Allen Jr. issued his ruling at the conclusion of a hearing near Lansing in which a 25-year-old woman testified that she was repeatedly molested as a child by Dr. Larry Nassar.
Nassar is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He has pleaded not guilty.
The woman says her parents were friends with Nassar and the abuse happened from age 6 until age 12 during family visits to his home. She says he rubbed his genitals on her and digitally penetrated her, among other things.
Separately, Nassar faces child porn charges and is being sued by dozens of women and girls who say he sexually assaulted them while they sought treatment over a roughly 20-year period.
Nassar denies any wrongdoing.
In a story airing Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” some of the women suing USA Gymnastics described how they say Nassar sexually abused them.
Nassar told the women and girls at the time that he was performing medical treatment on them.
“He started massaging me. And-- he had asked me not to wear any underwear. And then he just continued to go into more and more intimate places,” Jessica Howard, the U.S. national champion in rhythmic gymnastics from 1999 to 2001, told CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jonathan LaPook. “I remember thinking something was off but I didn’t feel like I was able to say anything because he was, you know, this very high profile doctor.”
USA Gymnastics declined to speak with “60 Minutes” on camera. In written statements, the organization said that five weeks after it learned of a complaint about Nassar in 2015, it relieved Nassar of his duties with the national team and notified the FBI.