Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor who was accused by nearly 200 women of molesting them during their gymnastics careers, has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for possession of 37,000 images of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to child porn possession back in July.
Last month, he pleaded guilty to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and to three other counts of sexual assault, including assaulting a girl under the age of 13. He is being sued in civil court by 140 women.
goooooooooodbye https://t.co/XuBGzUp7vF
— Christmas??Rouss-elf ?? (@crousselle) December 7, 2017
Sixty years is the maximum sentence he could have received for the child pornography charge.
Olympians McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, and Gabby Douglas all came forward to share their stories of how they were molested by Nassar under the guise of a legitimate medical treatment. In his second trial, Nassar apologized to those who he hurt (but nobody specifically) and said that what he did was not a standard medical practice.
Ahead of his sentencing, Deadspin released victim impact statements written by McKayla Maroney and her mother, Erin. The pair wrote about how Nassar should have never been able to "treat" girls unsupervised, and how Michigan State University, where Nassar was employed, was complicit in the abuse as they had been warned about his conduct back in the 1990s. Raisman published her own victim impact statement on the blog The Player's Tribune. None of Nassar's survivors were permitted to speak in court on Thursday.
Raisman railed on Twitter against USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and Michigan State University, who she said protected Nassar and looked the other way.
We must look at the organizations that protected Nassar; @USAGym @TeamUSA @michiganstateu Until we understand the flaws in their systems, we can't be sure something like this won’t happen again. This is bigger than Larry. Those who looked other way need to be held accountable 2
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) December 7, 2017
I fear that there are still people working at these organizations who put money, medals and reputation above the safety of athletes. @michiganstateu @TeamUSA @USAGym
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) December 7, 2017
Nassar will be sentenced for the assault charges in January.