LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) — For four days last week, woman after woman stepped up to a podium in a Lansing courtroom and described how sexual abuse by former sports doctor Larry Nassar changed their lives forever.
More women will tell their stories today during the fifth day of his sentencing hearing.
Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina has allowed an unprecedented number of people to speak at the hearing. More than 80 have done so already and there are expected to be about 140 victim impact statements on the record before it’s over. The judge is not expected to actually hand down a sentence until Tuesday at the earliest.
Among the women who have faced Nassar in court are Olympic medalists Jamie Dantzscher, Jordyn Wieber and Aly Raisman. Fellow Olympian McKayla Maroney sent a statement to be read. All described a pattern of abuse under the guise of medical care.
Others with less recognizable names have similar stories: Sixteen-year-old Arianna Guerrero, a Grand Ledge High School gymnast, said Nassar started abusing her when she was 12. Amanda Thomashow filed a report with Michigan State University after she says Nassar sexually assaulted her during an appointment in 2014, but it didn’t lead to any real changes. Former MSU volleyball player Taylor Cole said Nassar molested her in front of her parents and a trainer, and that the abuse affected her ability to have children. Kyle Stephens said Nassar abused her during visits his home over the course of about six years starting when she was 6 years old.
Before the allegations of sexual abuse stretching back decades started becoming public in 2016, Nassar was a famed sports doctor for MSU and USA Gymnastics. Many of the victims have blamed those organizations for not doing enough to stop him. The MSU student government and student newspaper have called for President Lou Anna Simon’s resignation. State leaders called on the MSU Board of Trustees to remove her. The board publicly backed her Friday, though Trustee Mitch Lyons broke with his colleagues Saturday night and called for her resignation.
The trustees also asked Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette to review the Nassar case, which he agreed to do.
Nassar, 54, pleaded guilty in November to sexually assaulting several girls, all but one of them a gymnast, at his home, his office at MSU and an area gymnastics club. He also pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges, for which he has already been sentenced to 60 years in prison.