Heroes who took a stand
It’s hard to fathom a human being as despicable as Larry Nassar, the former doctor for USA Gymnastics sentenced Wednesday to 40 to 175 years in prison for his serial molestation of girls he was entrusted to provide medical treatment.
It is also hard to imagine human beings quite as brave as the 156 young women who summoned the courage to bring their stories to a courtroom in Lansing, Mich., during the seven-day sentencing hearing. They described the predation of a master manipulator and the tacit acquiescence of a system that seemed too intent on pursuing athletic achievement to detect or act on the signs that something was terribly rotten.
Nassar, previously sentenced to 60 years for possessing child pornography, pleaded guilty in November to sexually abusing seven girls.
Emboldened by the realization that justice was actually possible, a succession of survivors came forward, including Olympic stars such as Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles.
Rachael Denhollander was the last to speak. She was one of the first to go public, reaching out to the Indianapolis Star in 2016 after it ran an expose on USA Gymnastics’ systemic failure to report allegations of abuse by coaches.
“Larry is the most dangerous type of abuser,” said Denhollander, who had sought treatment from Nassar at the sports-treatment clinic at Michigan State University, where he taught and practiced medicine. “One who is capable of manipulating his victims through coldly calculated grooming methodologies, presenting the most wholesome and caring external persona as a deliberate means to ensure a steady stream of young children to assault.”
Nassar remained despicable and in denial even after his conviction. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina read a letter that Nassar had sent to the court last week suggesting that his accusers were seeking media attention and money.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” he wrote.
Just before sentencing, he offered a weak and pathetic apology to the women. The judge was unmoved. “You’ve done nothing to deserve to walk outside a prison again,” Aquilina told Nassar.
Nassar’s sentencing was not the only consequence of this infuriating story, and it should not be the last. The case led to the resignation of the chairman and several board members of USA Gymnastics, and led the organization to sever ties with a training center in Texas where some of the abuse occurred. The NCAA has begun an investigation into Michigan State’s possible culpability.
These brave women had to wait far too long for justice. Their forthright damnation of a culture that looked the other way is every bit as heroic as their medal-winning performances.