GYMNASTICS DOCTOR AGREES TO PLEA DEAL
Former Michigan State doctor Larry Nassar agreed to plead guilty to federal child pornography charges. Nassar, 53, of Holt, Mich., was indicted in December on charges of obtaining and possessing child pornography. Months later, the U.S. Attorney’s Office added a third charge that alleged Nassar had images or files destroyed. He signed an agreement to plead guilty to all three charges, according a copy of the agreement obtained by the Lan
sing State Journal. The plea deal does not include a sentence agreement. Each charge carries a sentence of five to 20 years in prison. The formal plea agreement has not been filed in federal court, and no plea hearing has been scheduled. His next scheduled appearance is in August.
Matt Newburg, one of Nassar’s attorneys, declined to comment. The plea deal includes an agreement that Nassar will register as a sex offender and an agreement that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan will not prosecute him for alleged sexual exploitation or attempted sexual exploitation of children, including an incident in 2015 in his swimming pool. Nassar also worked with USA Gymnastics. He left the organization in fall 2015 with little notice. The plea agreement will resolve one of four criminal cases against Nassar, leaving three state sexual assault cases that are being prosecuted by the Michigan attorney general’s office. Those three cases include 22 first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges, with all but three relating to his former role as a doctor. Nassar faces up to life in prison if convicted on the state charges. He’s also being sued by more than 115 women and girls, all but one of whom say in court records that he sexually assaulted them during medical appointments.