Disgraced USA Gymnastics doc sentenced to another 40-125 years

CHARLOTTE, United States: Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor who sexually abused girls and young women for decades under the guise of medical treatment, was sentenced Monday to an additional 40 to 125 years in prison.

Nassar already faced a lifetime behind bars for two prior sentences after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting women and girls in his role as a high-profile sports medicine doctor at USA Gymnastics and at a Michigan State University (MSU) clinic.

The latest sentence stems from abuse he committed at the Twistars gymnastics training center in Michigan, where victims said in court they were referred to Nassar for treatment and were molested.

“This now ends the criminal legal proceedings involving Larry Nassar. I realize that it does not end the emotional and physical suffering he has caused,” Judge Janice Cunningham said in a Charlotte, Michigan courtroom after imposing the maximum sentence under a plea agreement.

The 54-year-old is accused by some 265 women -- including Olympians, gymnasts and collegiate athletes -- of sexually abusing them over a more than two-decade career.

His case has convulsed US amateur athletics and led to profound questions about how his abuse managed to go undetected for so long.

Nassar had previously been sentenced to 60 years in prison on child pornography possession charges in December, and up to 175 years in prison on sexual abuse charges in January.

Over the past three weeks of court hearings, some 200 women, girls and victims’ family members confronted Nassar and gave wrenching accounts of his abuse and its lasting damage.

They spoke of years of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, suicide attempts and broken bodies that had not received proper care and suffered under chronic pain.

Many victims gave nearly identical accounts of Nassar’s pattern of abuse: a star doctor who seemed to befriend them, only to suddenly abuse them during medical appointments -often with parents in the room.

“Larry Nassar is a master of manipulation,” Kaitlyn Basel, a dancer who was first abused by Nassar at the age of 12, told the court Friday.

“He trained us to believe that he was a saint that could help us, and that without him we could not get better.”

Nassar addressed the court Monday in a brief statement lasting less than a minute, offering an apology similar to the one he gave at the January sentencing hearing.

“The words expressed by everyone that has spoken, including the parents, have impacted me to my innermost core,” Nassar said.