Doctor Sex Assault gets up to 175 years in jail

More than 150 gymnasts had suffered sexual abuse at his hands

Disgraced former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar has been sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing scores of young girls under the guise of medical treatment. "I've just signed your death warrant," Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said as she handed down the sentence after a week of gutwrenching testimony by over 150 of Nassar's victims.

"You do not deserve to walk outside a prison ever again," the judge told the 54-year-old Nassar. "Anywhere you walk, destruction will occur to those most vulnerable."

Minutes ahead of the sentencing, Nassar apologized in court to his victims, including not only Olympic gold-medal winners but also scores of female athletes at Michigan State University, where he worked. The final woman to deliver a statement in court was Rachael Denhollander, the first to publicly accuse Nassar of abuse and file a police report against him. Calling for the maximum sentence, she asked the judge: "How much is a little girl worth? How much is a young woman worth." Denhollander said the "brazen sexual assault" upon her occurred when she was 15 years old and was carried out "with my own mother in the room," unaware of what was going on.

"What I am feeling pales in comparison to the pain, trauma, and emotional destruction that all of you are feeling," Nassar said, turning at several points to face his victims in court.

"There are no words to describe the depth and breadth of how sorry I am for what has occurred," he said.

More than 150 women and girls have accused Nassar of a pattern of serial abuse dating back two decades. Already sentenced to 60 years in prison on federal child pornography charges, Nassar pleaded guilty to 10 counts of criminal sexual conduct.