Accuser count up to 265, judge says at hearing
CHARLOTTE, Mich. — Another wave of victims confronted disgraced former gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar at his third and final sentencing hearing Wednesday, this time about sexual abuse at an elite Michigan club run by an Olympic coach.
The judge presiding over the case said the number of people who allege they were abused by Nassar has climbed to 265. That total includes 150-plus victims who offered statements at a different hearing last week, as well as scores of new ones who are expected to speak over the next few days.
Nassar, who has already been sentenced on federal child-pornography charges and charges that he abused young women and girls while working at Michigan State University, faces another long prison sentence on top of the two he has already received.
“You are most vile, disgusting creature I have ever met,” said Katherine Ebert, who was a gymnast from 5 to 18 and started seeing Nassar at 15. “There are black holes in my memory that come back as nightmares or flashbacks, not wanting to believe they’re true.”
Nassar, once the doctor for the national gymnastics team, sat at a table with his lawyers as accusers rebuked him.
“You took advantage of my innocence and trust,” 17-yearold Jessica Thomashow said. “You were my doctor. Why? I ask myself that question all the time. What you did to me was twisted. You manipulated me and my entire family. How dare you.”
Judge Janice Cunningham has set aside several days for more than 60 victims who want to confront Nassar or have their statement read in the courtroom in Charlotte, a city outside Lansing.
The event could unfold much the same as last week’s proceedings in another county. That hearing ended with Nassar getting to 40 to 175 years in prison, a sentence that judge described as Nassar’s “death warrant.”
The case on Cunningham’s docket in Eaton County centers on Nassar’s assaults at Twistars, a Lansing-area gymnastics club that was run by 2012 Olympic coach John Geddert. Nassar admits penetrating three girls with his hands when he was supposed to be treating them for injuries.
Annie Labrie said what Nassar did to her made her “skin crawl,” but every adult around her assured her he was the only option, and she hid the abuse from her parents. She said Nassar’s pedophilia was not an isolated incident, and gymnastics and gyms like Twistars have a “specific culture” that allows people like him to flourish.
Attorney Mick Grewal said 11 of his clients have signed up, including some who were inspired by the 150-plus young women and girls who appeared in court last week. He called it a “cathartic experience.”
“Now they’re at a point in their healing process where they want to confront Larry, and they want to show the world that they are survivors and they are strong and they are part of this movement,” Grewal said. “It helps them through the healing process.”
He said the Nassar cases are extraordinary in the number of victims who have come forward.
“The only case that’s out there that’s even similar in stature is Penn State, and this is now six times as big as Penn State, maybe seven times,” Grewal said, referring to boys who said they were sexually abused by assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
The doctor’s accusers include Olympic champions Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas and other top gymnasts.
Also Wednesday, a police department in the Lansing area admitted it missed an opportunity to pursue charges in 2004 against Nassar after a 17-year-old girl complained that he had molested her. A police report released Wednesday says Meridian Township police dropped the case after Nassar explained that he was performing a legitimate technique known as a ligament release. Nassar even provided a Power Point presentation.
The girl said Nassar had removed her underwear, cupped her genitals with his hand and rubbed a breast.
Township Manager Frank Walsh says Nassar “deceived” police. He says, “We missed it. We’re not going to hide it.”
A public apology to Brianne Randall-Gay is planned for Thursday. Meridian Township paid for the Seattle woman to travel to Michigan to testify last week.
In another development, former Michigan Gov. John Engler was formally named interim president at Michigan State, following Lou Anna Simon’s resignation last week from the school’s top post. Engler will head the school as it deals with lawsuits filed by more than 100 abuse victims and investigations by the state attorney general, the NCAA and Congress.
Engler, a Republican who was governor from 1990 through 2002, said he would strive to lead the school without regard to politics.
“I think we start from the standpoint: How do we change things?” he said. “That starts today.”
Trustees also named another former governor, Democrat Jim Blanchard, to advise the school on lawsuits and investigations.
Elsewhere, the governing body for American gymnastics announced that every member of its board of directors has resigned.
The resignations at USA Gymnastics come less than a week after the U.S. Olympic Committee urged the board to step down over the widening Nassar allegations. The organization plans to appoint an interim board in February.