Raisman: Nassar taken down by ‘army’ of survivors
Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman says a sports doctor who sexually assaulted her is “sick” and that she’s incomprehensibly angry that he manipulated an “innocent child” to pleasure himself.
Raisman delivered a victim impact statement in a Lansing, Michigan, courtroom Friday – on the fourth day of a sentencing hearing for Larry Nassar during which some 120 girls and women are expected to testify.
Raisman told Nassar he will sit in prison suffering and replaying the words delivered by a “powerful army of survivors.” She says she still loves gymnastics and adds that if just one adult had listened to children over the past 30 years, “this tragedy could have been avoided.”
The 54-year-old Nassar faces a minimum sentence of 25 to 40 years in prison for molesting girls at Michigan State University and his home. He also was a team doctor at USA Gymnastics. He already has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for child pornography crimes.
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12:20 p.m.
Michigan’s attorney general says his office will conduct a review of Michigan State University’s handling of complaints against a sports doctor who sexually assaulted gymnasts and other athletes.
Bill Schuette (SHOO’-tee) said in a statement Friday that “a full and complete review, report and recommendation” is “required.”
Schuette, who is running for governor, says that review won’t begin until Larry Nassar’s victims have had “their day in court.” Roughly 100 women are expected to make impact statements during Nassar’s sentencing, which started on Tuesday.
Michigan State’s board of trustees requested the review following growing calls for university President Lou Anna Simon to resign.
The board says only a review by Schuette can resolve unanswered questions in a satisfactory and healing way.
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10:10 a.m.
Michigan State University is asking Michigan’s attorney general to investigate the school’s handling of complaints against a sports doctor who sexually assaulted gymnasts and other athletes.
The eight-member board of trustees sent a letter to Bill Schuette (SHOO’-tee) Friday. Outside calls have grown for university president Lou Anna Simon to resign or be fired as victims of Larry Nassar give impact statements at his sentencing this week. The board also will hold an unscheduled, closed-door meeting Friday.
The board says only a review by Schuette can resolve questions in a way “that the victims, their families, and the public will deem satisfactory and that will help all those affected by Nassar’s horrible crimes to heal.”
The board says reviews by campus police, the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office have not resulted in criminal charges against anyone at the university other than Nassar, who was fired in September 2016.
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9:45 a.m.
Another Olympic gold medalist has come forward to say that she too was sexually assaulted by a former sports doctor who also worked at USA Gymnastics.
Jordyn Wieber gave a victim impact statement in a Lansing, Michigan, courtroom Friday – the fourth day of sentencing for Larry Nassar. She grew up in the Lansing area and says she started seeing Nassar at age 8.
She criticized USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee, saying “I was not protected and neither were my teammates.”
The 54-year-old Nassar faces a minimum sentence of 25 to 40 years in prison for molesting girls at Michigan State University and his home. He also was a team doctor at USA Gymnastics. He already has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for child pornography crimes.
