(CNN)Larry Nassar, the former acclaimed USA Gymnastics team
doctor, pleaded guilty Wednesday to seven counts of first-degree criminal
sexual conduct and admitted in a Michigan court to using his position to
sexually abuse underage girls.
Three of the charges applied to
victims under 13, and three applied to victims 13 to 15 years old. Other
charges were dismissed or reduced as part of a plea agreement. All 125 victims
who reported assaults to Michigan State Police will be allowed to give victim
impact statements at Nassar's sentencing in January, according to the plea
deal.
Nassar made a short statement
apologizing and saying he was hopeful the community could move forward.
"For all those involved, I'm so
horribly sorry that this was like a match that turned into a forest fire out of
control," he said. "I have no animosity toward anyone. I just want
healing. ... We need to move forward in a sense of growth and healing and I
pray (for) that."
Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said Nassar
violated the trust of his patients, and she praised the victims for coming
forward.
"You used that position of
trust that you had in the most vile way to abuse children," she said. "I
agree that now is a time of healing, but it may take them a lifetime of healing
while you spend your lifetime behind bars thinking about what you did in taking
away their childhood."
Aquilina continued, "You
violated the oath that you took, which is to do no harm, and you harmed them
selfishly. ... They are superheroes for all of America because this is an
epidemic."
Aly Raisman: I was sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics
doctor
Dozens of women, including several
gold-medal winning members of the famed "Fierce Five" team of
American gymnasts, have accused Nassar of sexual misconduct in his role as the
USA Gymnastics doctor.
Nassar was the team physician for
the Michigan State University gymnastics and women's crew teams as well as an
associate professor at MSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine. He worked at MSU
from 1997 to 2016 and served as the USA Gymnastics physician through four
Olympic Games.
In all, Nassar had been charged with
22 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and 11 counts of third-degree
criminal sexual conduct at the state level, Megan Hawthorne, deputy press
secretary for state Attorney General Bill Schuette, told CNN in July.
Several of the first-degree charges
pertained to victims under 13, and all of the state-level charges involve
former family friends, gymnasts and patients of Nassar, Hawthorne said.
Separately, Nassar is also awaiting
sentencing on federal charges of receiving child pornography,
possessing child pornography and a charge that he hid and destroyed evidence in
the case. That hearing is scheduled for Monday.
Reacting to Wednesday's hearing,
three-time gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman called Nassar a monster on Twitter
and criticized the court for referring to him as a doctor.
"Court referring to Larry as
DOCTOR Nassar. I AM DISGUSTED. I am very disappointed. He does NOT deserve
that. Larry is (disgusting). Larry is a MONSTER not a doctor," she wrote.
Raisman and McKayla Maroney, another prominent gymnast,
recently spoke out about abuse at the hands of Nassar. Maroney said Nassar
molested her starting when she was 13 under the guise of providing
"medically necessary treatment." Raisman, now 23, said she was first
treated by Nassar when she was 15.
Earlier in November, Raisman told
"60 Minutes" she was angry at Nassar and the broader culture of USA
Gymnastics that she said kept victims quiet for years.
"Why are we looking at why
didn't the girls speak up?" Raisman said in a short clip released by
"60 Minutes." "Why not look at what about the culture? What did
USA Gymnastics do, and Larry Nassar do, to manipulate these girls so much that
they are so afraid to speak up?"
In a statement, USA Gymnastics said
it was "very sorry" that Nassar had harmed any athlete.
"We note that affected women
contacted by Michigan prosecutors supported resolution by plea, and USA
Gymnastics also views Nassar's guilty plea as an important acknowledgment of
his appalling and devious conduct that permits punishment without further
victimization of survivors," it said.
Rachael Denhollander, a former
gymnast with USA Gymnastics, said in court in May that Nassar sexually abused her
on five doctor's visits in 2000.
Denhollander, a mid-level gymnast,
said she went to Nassar because of his esteemed stature with USA Gymnastics.
The abuse began at her first visit, when he put two fingers in her vagina. She
thought at the time it was a legitimate medical treatment.
At a follow-up treatment, Nassar
unhooked her bra, rolled her onto her side on the massage table and put his
hand on her left breast, she said.
"I froze, because I knew that
was sexual assault," she said.
'American
tragedy'
In a press conference after the
guilty plea, several victims and attorneys representing more than 100 of
Nassar's victims focused their criticisms on three institutions: USA
Gymnastics, the US Olympic Committee and Michigan State University.
Manley said those three groups had
"miserably failed" to protect children under their care.
"Make no mistake: This is an
American tragedy," said attorney John Manley.
He particularly slammed Michigan
State University and its administration, which was told repeatedly about
Nassar's abuse and protected him, Manley said. He likened their approach to
that of the Catholic Church during the abuse scandals, and he called for them
to release an internal report investigating the allegations against Nassar.
"These girls deserve justice,
and they deserve to know who knew what (and) when," Manley said.
Kaylee Lorincz, Rachael Denhollander and Lindsey Lemke spoke out against
Nassar and the institutions that protected him on Wednesday.
Denhollander, who filed the first
police complaint against Nassar, said she was "grateful to the army of women
that stopped a pedophile." But she said she had yet to hear the truth from
officials who ignored victims and brushed off the women's complaints of abuse.
"We were silenced, we were
mocked, and our abuser was told time and time again, 'I'm on your side,'"
she said. "The culture that allowed this predator to keep abusing has yet
to end."
In a statement, Michigan State
University spokesman Jason Cody said the school was grateful to police and the
Michigan attorney general's office in investigating and prosecuting the case.
"The plea deal and conviction
of Larry Nassar on November 22 on state criminal sexual conduct charges in
Ingham County represents another important step toward justice for the
victims," Cody said.
US Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas
released a statement Tuesday apologizing for a comment she made that some
perceived as victim-shaming, and she shared her own experience with Nassar.
"I didn't view my comments as
victim shaming because I know no matter what you wear, it NEVER gives anyone
the right to harass or abuse you. It would be like saying that because of the
leotards we wore, it was our fault that we were abused by Larry Nassar,"
the statement said.
She also implied she had been abused
as well.
USA Gymnastics agrees to dozens of changes amid sex abuse
scandal
"I didn't publicly share my
experiences as well as many other things because for years we were conditioned
to stay silent and honestly some things were extremely painful. I
wholeheartedly support my teammates for coming forward with what happened to
them," she added.
In a statement, USA Gymnastics
praised Douglas and her teammates for their willingness to speak out.
"The conduct of which Larry
Nassar is accused is appalling, and we are very sorry that any athlete has been
harmed during her or his gymnastics career," the organization said.
In light of the sex abuse scandal,
USA Gymnastics adopted a series of reforms in June that it said will help
prevent and respond to future cases of abuse. All members are now required to
report suspected sexual misconduct, and adults kicked out of a club will be
tracked in a database.
"We are committed to further
developing a culture that has safe sport as a top priority throughout the
organization," USA Gymnastics said.
Source: CNN
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