Nassar, ex-trainer charged with sex assault in Texas
Prosecutor in case says that the charges involve six victims.
A former trainer who worked alongside imprisoned ex-sports doctor Larry Nassar at the famed Karolyi gymnastics ranch in Texas was charged Friday with sexual assault. But prosecutors said there wasn’t evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the couple who ran the facility, former national team coordinators Bela and Martha Karolyi.
A grand jury indicted former trainer Debra Van Horn on one count of second-degree sexual assault of a child, making her the first person other than Nassar to be charged in direct connection with his assaults.
Nassar — who is already serving decades in prison for sexual assault and possession of child pornography in Michigan — also was indicted Friday on six counts of the same charge.
Walker County prosecutor Stephanie Stroud said the charges involved six victims but didn’t provide details of the alleged assaults when announcing the charges at a news conference in Huntsville. When asked for specifics about the allegations against Van Horn, Walker County District Attorney David Weeks said only that she was charged as “acting as a party” with Nassar.
Nassar was convicted and sentenced earlier this year in Michigan, after hundreds of women and girls accused him of sexually abusing them under the guise of medical treatment. They said the abuse went back decades, including while he worked for USA Gymnastics, which is responsible for training Olympic gymnasts, and Michigan State University.
Nassar victim Mattie Larson said at Nassar’s sentencing in January in Michigan that Van Horn “would be in the room many of the times” Nasser abused her.
“If a trainer, a professional trainer, doesn’t say anything about it, I should trust her,” Larson said. “At least that’s what I thought.”
The Associated Press could not find a working number for Van Horn. Court records do not list an attorney who could comment on her behalf.
The Texas charges stem from an investigation at the famed gymnastics training center just outside Huntsville that was run by the Karolyis and used by USA Gymnastics. Five former gymnasts implored authorities last month to determine whether the Karolyis could have prevented abuse at their facility. Two gymnasts said Nassar abused them there.
Stroud said Friday that no charges were filed against the Karolyis, who have denied knowledge of any mistreatment at their since-closed facility about 70 miles north of Houston.
“Bela and Marta Karolyi were interviewed at length. The Karolyis were and remain fully cooperative with this investigation,” Stroud said.
But she added, “It’s our belief that there was a total failure by (USA Gymnastics) to protect athletes that were part of their program and to take appropriate action once they were made aware of Dr. Nassar’s actions.”
Stroud said investigators tried to determine if anyone at the ranch knew about Nassar’s alleged assaults and didn’t report them. But the twoyear statute of limitations had already lapsed on any possible misdemeanor charges of failure to report.
The Karolyis are suing the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics, seeking damages for the canceled sale of their training center — a transaction that tanked in the wake of the Nassar sex-abuse cases. They’re seeking more than $1 million in damages.