Molest case shock for U.S. gymnasts
THREE former stars of the U.S. national women’s gymnastics team said Dr. Lawrence Nassar, the team physician now charged with child sex crimes, worked hard to win their trust — so they didn’t believe what he allegedly did to them was wrong at first.
“He was like my buddy,” Jamie Dantz- scher — one of more than 60 women to come forward with abuse allegations against Nassar — told “60 Minutes” in an episode about the case.
“He was on my side.”
Dantzscher, a 2000 Olympic bronze medalist, said Nassar seemed to be a relief from the grueling pressures of the team — where she faced constant criticism and body image issues.
When she saw Nassar, whom she called a “bright light,” he was friendly, supportive, attentive — so much so that she didn’t see a reason not to trust his treatments.
“He would put his fingers inside of me and move my leg around,” Dantzscher said.
“He would tell me I was going to feel a pop. And that that would put my hips back and help my back pain.”
Another former gymnast, Jeanette Antolin, said Nassar would sneak them snacks and candy while they stuck to strict diets for their training. He slowly won over the women on the team.
“He was someone that we would talk to when we were getting treatment, if we had a hard day,” she said.
“He was a listening ear. He would make us laugh. When it’s such a serious environment that would be the world. It could fix your day.”
Nassar served as volunteer doctor for the team for nearly three decades, and became one of the most famous physicians in sports. His alleged abuse is said to have spanned years.
He left USA Gymnastics in 2015 and said he was retiring, but the organization later said he was fired and that officials reported him to the FBI over “athlete concerns.”
He has been indicted on federal child pornography charges and hit with three counts of firstdegree criminal sexual conduct with a person younger than 13, and faces life in prison if convicted. a