Larry Nassar

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Lawrence Gerard "Larry" Nassar (born August 16, 1963 in Farmington Hills , Michigan ) is a retired American doctor and serial sex offender . Nassar worked for decades as a doctor for the US Gymnastics Association, and was a member of the US Olympic team four times. During this time he abused over 250 girls and women, including some Olympic champions. He also worked as an osteopathic doctor at Michigan State University. In January 2018 he was sentenced to 40 to 175 years imprisonment for the mass sexual abuse of women and girls.

Career

Nassar was born in Farmington Hills , Michigan on August 16, 1963 and attended Farmington Hills High School through 1981 . He then studied kinesiology at the University of Michigan , where he graduated in 1985. In 1993 he graduated from the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Michigan State University as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (osteopathic physician).

In 1986, Nassar began working as an athletic trainer for USA Gymnastics and the US National Women's Gymnastics Team. From 1996 to 2014, Nassar was the national team doctor and medical coordinator for the US Gymnastics Federation.

Sexual abuse

From 2015, the first allegations of abuse against Nassar became public. USA Gymnastics only ended any collaboration with Nassar a few months after the allegations became known. In September 2016, the Indianapolis Star released that Rachael Denhollander and another former gymnast had charged Nassar with sexual abuse. The state of Michigan released him on September 20, 2016.

In February 2017, the three former gymnasts Jeanette Antolin , Jessica Howard and Jamie Dantzscher told the news magazine 60 Minutes that they had been sexually abused by Nassar. As a result, more and more American gymnasts reported sexual abuse by Nassar against them, many also using the hashtag MeToo on Twitter . Since it was first published in September 2016, more than 265 women have accused Nassar of sexual abuse, including many members of the US national gymnastics team and a few Olympic champions. For example, McKayla Maroney , Olympic champion in London 2012, used the #MeToo hashtag to announce that Nassar sexually abused her from the age of 13 until she retired in 2016. In a 60-minute interview, Aly Raisman , also an Olympic gold medalist, reported on the sexual abuse by Nassar, which began at the age of 15. Even Gabby Douglas made sexual abuse by Nassar towards her in public.

The following active and former gymnasts are among others affected by sexual abuse by Nassar:

This makes it one of the biggest sexual abuse scandals in all of sports history.

Legal proceedings

In December 2016, Nassar was arrested by the FBI after finding more than 37,000 pictures and videos of child pornography on him. On April 6, 2017, his medical license was revoked for three years.

Nassar was convicted of possession of child pornography on July 11, 2017 and sentenced to 60 years in prison on December 7, 2017 by the United States District Court in Grand Rapids , Michigan.

On January 24, 2018, Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for the sexual abuse of minors in the 30th Judicial Circuit Court in Michigan in the abuse trial. The presiding judge, Rosemarie Aquilina , added, when pronouncing the verdict, “I wouldn't even send my dogs to you. [...] You don't deserve ever to leave prison again. I have just signed your death warrant. ”A total of 156 girls and women were heard at the trial. It was announced that a total of 265 gymnasts had made public sexual abuse by Nassar. How many did not dare to go public with it is unknown.

The imposed prison sentences must be served one after the other.

Nassar was transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Tucson in February 2018 and to the United States Penitentiary, Coleman in August 2018 .

Follow

The abuse scandal shook the US gymnastics association and the international sports world. Over 368 female athletes are believed to have been abused by coaches, team supervisors and gym owners across the United States. Many deeds have also been covered up by officials of the sports association, and coaches who have been accused have often been transferred and not dismissed.

In March 2017, Steve Penny , chairman of USA Gymnastics , resigned. In 2018, Lou Anna Simon , president, and Mark Hollis, gymnastics director of Michigan State University , also announced their resignation. Penny and Simon were arrested for covering up sexual abuse.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Abuse scandal at the US Gymnastics Association: Gymnastics doctor Nassar sentenced to 175 years in prison , on dw.com , January 24, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  2. ↑ Julie Mack, Emily Lawler: MSU doctor's alleged victims talked for 20 years. What anyone listening? , on mlive.com, February 8, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  3. ↑ How Larry Nassar abused hundreds of gymnasts and eluded justice for decades . In: The Indianapolis Star , April 4, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  4. ^ A comprehensive timeline of the Larry Nassar case , on sbnation.com, updated version October 18, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  5. ↑ a b Alice Park: Who Is Larry Nassar, the Former USA Gymnastics Doctor McKayla Maroney Accused of Sexual Abuse? . In: Time . Meredith Corporation . October 18, 2017.
  6. ↑ Aly Raisman says she was sexually abused by the US national team doctor . In: CBS News . November 10, 2017.
  7. ↑ Matt Stevens: Gabby Douglas Says She Also Was Abused by Gymnastics Team Doctor (en-US) . In: The New York Times , New York Times Company, November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2017. 
  8. ↑ Larry Nassar case: USA Gymnastics doctor 'abused 265 girls' . In: BBC News . January 31, 2018.
  9. ↑ Juliet Macur: Who Has USA Gymnastics' Back at This Point? The USOC, for Some Reason . In: The New York Times . 19th January 2018.
  10. ↑ Alice Park: USA Gymnastics Board Members Resign Amid Larry Nassar Sexual Abuse Scandal . In: Time . 22nd January 2018.
  11. ↑ Bryan Armen Graham: Why don't we care about the biggest sex abuse scandal in sports history? . In: The Guardian . December 16, 2017.
  12. ↑ Caleb Parke: Michigan State accused of covering up worst sex abuse scandal in US sports . In: Fox News . November 30, 2017.
  13. ↑ US gymnastics doctor sentenced to 60 years in prison , on dw.com, December 7, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  14. ↑ Abuse scandal in US gymnastics: Team doctor Nassar sentenced to 175 years in prison , on spiegel.de, January 24, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  15. ↑ Judge in the trial against the US team doctor: "Thank you, you are my heroine" , on spiegel.de, January 25, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  16. ↑ Lauren Messman: New Report Reveals 20-Year Sex Abuse Scandal Across US Gymnastics Programs . In: Vice . December 15, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2018: "At least 368 child gymnasts have alleged sexual assault by gym owners, coaches, and staff working for top gymnastics programs across the country over the last 20 years."
  17. ↑ Tim Evans, Mark Alesia and Marisa Kwiatkowski: A 20-year toll: 368 gymnasts allege sexual exploitation . In: The Indianapolis Star . 2016. Retrieved on February 17, 2018: “At least 368 gymnasts have alleged some form of sexual abuse at the hands of their coaches, gym owners and other adults working in gymnastics. That's a rate of one every 20 days. And it's likely an undercount. "
personal data
SURNAME Nassar, Larry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nassar, Lawrence Gerard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American doctor and serial sex offender
BIRTH DATE August 16, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Farmington Hills , Michigan