Former gymnast: ‘You only hurt me’

LANSING, Mich. — A former elite gymnast said Tuesday a sports doctor who treated Olympic athletes overlooked what turned out to be a broken leg while he molested her in the basement of his home, one of the latest victims to testify at a Michigan sentencing hearing for Larry Nassar.

Isabell Hutchins practiced for weeks at a Lansing area gymnastics club and even competed at national events despite acute leg pain as a teen in 2011. She said Nassar did nothing to encourage her to get help and instead molested her during late-night appointments at his home.

“You were never a real doctor. You did not heal me. You only hurt me,” Hutchins told Nassar, who was seated a few feet away in the Ingham County courtroom as the sentencing phase reached a sixth day.

Nassar has admitted sexually assaulting athletes when he was employed by Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics, which is the sport’s national governing organization and trains Olympians. His accusers said he would use his ungloved hands to penetrate them, often without explanation, while they were on a table seeking treatment for a variety of injuries.

The accusers, many of whom were children, said they trusted Nassar to treat them properly, were in denial about what was happening or were afraid to speak up. He sometimes used a sheet or his body to block the view of any parent in the room.

“I’d been told during my entire gymnastics career to not question authority,” Hutchins said.

Nassar, 54, pleaded guilty to assaulting seven people in the Lansing area, but the sentencing hearing has been open to anyone who said they were a victim. More than 150 women and girls have confronted him in court or had a statement read on their behalf since Jan. 16.

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina will sentence Nassar today after hearing from a few more accusers. Under a plea deal, he faces a minimum of 25 to 40 years behind bars, although the actual punishment could be much higher. He already has been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for child pornography crimes.

The mother of a victim, Anne Swinehart, beseeched those following the case to “quit shaming and blaming the parents.”

“Trust me,” she said, “you would not have known, and you would not have done anything differently. So stop.”

Aquilina, who has made it a practice to praise each speaker, tried to ease Swinehart’s feelings about letting her daughter down. “The red flags may have been there, but they were designed to be hidden. Leave the blame here with him,” the judge said