Father lunges at sex abuse doctor in courtroom attack
A FATHER whose three daughters were sexually assaulted by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar tried to attack him in court yesterday.
Randall Margraves glared at Nassar as he listened to two of his daughters tearfully read victim impact statements in a Michigan courtroom.
Then he asked Judge Janice Cunningham if he could have five minutes alone in a room with “this demon”.
She denied his request and also said no to a second request for one minute.
Mr Margraves then lunged across the court towards Nassar who cowered behind his defence lawyer. The father was wrestled to the floor and handcuffed by three security officers.
“Give me one minute with that ******* ,” said Mr Margraves as he was dragged out of court. “I want that son of a ***** .” Michigan state assistant attorney general Angela Povilaitis, prosecuting, told him: “You cannot behave like this. This is letting him have his power over us.”
But the father shouted back: “You haven’t lived through it, lady.”
Margraves was seen to become increasingly angry as his daughters Madison Rae and Lauren had spoken. Their sister Morgan had given her statement earlier.
After a short adjournment Judge Cunningham said: “If it is hard and difficult for me to hear what his daughters have to say, I can’t imagine what it is like for a parent.”
Sixty-five women are scheduled to speak over the course of three days in Eaton County Court. Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct.
Trial judge Rosemarie Aquilina told him: “I just signed your death warrant,” in reference to the fact that he will never be released and will die in prison.
More than 140 female athletes including Simone Biles, the star of the 2016 Olympics, said they were abused by the doctor.
He worked at Michigan State University from 1997 to 2016 and served as the USA gymnastics women’s team physician. In his plea Nassar admitted to sexually abusing patients, including girls under 13, under the guise of providing medical treatment.
At his plea hearing Nassar apologised. But Judge Aquilna read out a letter he had written to the court in which he accused the women of lying.