Former doctor to gymnasts pleads guilty to sex charges

A former sports doctor accused of molesting at least 125 girls and young women while he worked for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University pleaded guilty Wednesday to multiple charges of sexual assault and will face at least 25 years in prison.

Larry Nassar, 54, admitted to digitally penetrating seven girls, mostly under the guise of treatment at his Lansing-area home and a campus clinic, between 1998 and 2015.

“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 in a courtroom packed with tearful accusers and others. “I pray the rosary every day for forgiveness. I want them to heal. I want the community to heal.”

Nassar, who lost his physician’s license in April, admitted his conduct had no legitimate medical purpose and that he did not have the girls’ consent. The 125 girls and young women who have filed reports of abuse with campus police will be able to speak at his Jan. 12 sentencing.

The plea deal in Ingham County calls for a minimum prison sentence of 25 years, but the judge could set the minimum sentence as high as 40 years. Nassar is expected to also plead guilty Nov. 29 in neighboring Eaton County — the location of an elite gymnastics club — resolving state prosecutors’ charges against him. Separately, he is scheduled to be sentenced next month in federal court for possessing child pornography.

Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and Gabby Douglas are among the women who have publicly said they were among Nassar’s victims.