Gymnast wants abuser to suffer

LANSING, Mich. — Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman on Friday confronted her former doctor who has pleaded guilty to multiple sexual assaults, warning him that the testimony of the “powerful army” of 140 survivors at his sentencing will haunt him in prison.

Roughly 80 of the women and girls whom Larry Nassar abused under the guise of medical treatment have stood before the court during a marathon sentencing hearing that began Tuesday, describing with eloquence and sometimes tears the harm Nassar did and the impact he has had on their lives.

“You have not taken gymnastics away from me,” Raisman said. “I love this sport, and that love is stronger than the evil that resides in you, in those who enabled you to hurt many people.”

Raisman said if just one adult had believed Nassar’s accusers and had “the courage and character to act, this tragedy could have been avoided. I and so many others would have never, ever met you. Larry, you should have been locked up a long, long time ago.”

Nassar pleaded guilty to molesting girls at his Michigan State University office, at home and at a Lansing-area gymnastics club, sometimes with a parent present. Already sentenced to 60 years in prison on a separate federal child pornography conviction, the 54-yearold man can expect to be behind bars for the rest of his life. Raisman hoped the testimonies of her fellow survivors will never leave him.