Aly wants probe of Nassar abuse

Chicago, Jan. 20: Olympic gymnastics superstar Aly Raisman on Friday faced down disgraced national team doctor Larry Nassar in court, calling him “sick” and demanding an independent probe to find out how he was apparently able to abuse dozens of young girls for years with impunity.

Raisman’s statement came on Day Four of searing testimony from dozens of Nassar’s victims at his sentencing hearing, shortly after teammate Jordyn Wieber publicly revealed for the first time that she had been abused by Nassar.

“You are so sick. I can’t even comprehend how angry I feel when I think of you,” Raisman, now 23, told the court in Michigan, where Nassar has pleaded guilty to 10 counts of criminal sexual conduct. He faces life in prison.

“You took advantage of our passions and our dreams,” she added.

“We need an independent investigation of exactly what happened, what went wrong, and how it can be avoided for the future. Only then can we know what changes are needed. Only then can we believe such changes are real.”

Raisman, Wieber and two other members of the socalled “Fierce Five” 2012 gold medal- winning squad — Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney — have all said Nassar molested them in the guise of medical treatment.

Olympians Simone Biles, the reigning all- around champion from the Rio Games in 2016, and Jamie Dantzscher, who competed in Sydney in 2000 and took home a bronze medal, have also revealed that they were abused. A noticeably nervous Wieber said Nassar first molested her when she was 14.

“I thought that training for the Olympics would be the hardest thing that I would ever have to do. But, in fact, the hardest thing I ever had to do is process that I am a victim of Larry Nassar,” said Wieber, who is now 22.

She said Nassar had unfettered access to gymnasts — he was the only male allowed at the national team training camp in Texas and was sometimes left unaccompanied in their hotel rooms.