Judge didn’t couch condemnation
Doctor sentenced for abusing gymnasts gets a blistering earful over days of testimony
Former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, accused of sexually abusing more than 100 girls and women, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison Wednesday after days of hearing statement after statement from his accusers.
Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina opened her courtroom to a parade of survivors, parents and coaches affected by Nassar’s abuse — letting each say their piece.
“The monster who took advantage of you is going to wither, much like the scene in The Wizard of Oz where the water gets poured on the witch and the witch withers away,” Aquilina, 59, told one victim last week, according to CNN. “That’s what’s going to happen to him, because as you get stronger, as you overcome — because you will — he gets weaker, and he will wither away. Prison is no place for a human being to live.”
Among the other memorable statements Aquilina made over the course of the week-long hearing:
❚ “Sir, you do not deserve to walk outside of a prison ever again. I just signed your death warrant,” she said after sentencing Nassar.
❚ “Our Constitution does not allow for cruel and unusual punishment. If it did, I have to say, I might allow what he did to all of these beautiful souls, these young women in their childhood, I would allow some or many people to do to him what he did to others,” she said near the end of the first day of Nassar’s sentencing hearing.
❚ After Nassar objected to hearing from his victims, Aquilina told him: “You may find it harsh that you are here listening, but nothing is as harsh as what your victims endured for thousands of hours at your hands, collectively. You spent thousands of hours perpetrating criminal sexual conduct on minors. Spending four or five days listening to them is significantly minor considering the hours of pleasure you had at their expense and ruining their lives. None of this should come as a surprise to you.”
❚ “Only the defendant would be better off if you were not here,” Aquilina told Nicole Reeb, a dancer who said she had thoughts of suicide. “Please stay with us. Stay with your family. Your children need you.”
❚ Aquilina apologized to Aly Raisman after the Olympic gold medalist said Friday that Nassar could have been stopped decades ago if “just one adult listened and had the courage and character to act.”
“I’m an adult, and I’m listening,” Aquilina said, according to ABC, “and I’m sorry it took this long. ... You were never the problem, but you are so much the solution.”
❚ Aquilina encouraged survivors to continue chasing their dreams after Amanda Cormier said Nassar’s abuse caused her to lose her passion for songwriting.
“It seems to me, after this, you can finish writing. You found your voice,” Aquilina said, according to CNN. “It’s a strong, effective, brave voice, and you have a child coming. Maybe what you need to do is start and finish a lullaby.”