Disgraced doc faces life in jail
Lansing ( United States), Jan. 24: Disgraced former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar was expected to be sentenced on Wednesday to spend the rest of his life behind bars after a week of gut- wrenching testimony from scores of young women he is accused of sexually molesting in the guise of medical treatment.
More than 100 women and girls accuse Nassar of a pattern of serial abuse dating back two decades, including the Olympic gold- medal winners Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney — who have lashed out at top sporting officials for failing to stop him.
Ahead of the sentencing, the packed court in Lansing, Michigan began hearing the last of 156 statements from former athletes, patients and their families detailing how Nassar tricked, and abused young gymnasts in his care.
“This army you have created,” Sterling Riethman, 25, told the slight, bespectacled Nassar, “we are 150 women strong and counting.”” And let me tell you, this army isn’t going anywhere,” Riethman said, directly addressing the 54year- old former doctor — but also sporting authorities at USA Gymnastics, the US Olympic Committee and Michigan State University where Nassar worked.
Already sentenced to 60 years in prison on federal child pornography charges, Nassar has pleaded guilty to 10 counts of criminal sexual conduct and faces an additional prison term on Wednesday of 25 to 40 years on seven of those charges, although the sentence could go higher, as requested by many victims.
“I want to thank you for allowing each of us to speak to our experiences,” Riethman told Judge.
— AFP