Sometimes, criminals hide so well within the cracks that any effort to out them becomes a tale, something ridiculous that people ignore. This is the case with Larry Nassar, who had many complaints about his ‘treatments’ that often went unchallenged.
Larry Nassar / Picture Credit:The New York Times on YouTube
Who is Larry Nassar?
Nassar is a former doctor and athletic trainer who was convicted of sexual assault, as well as possession of child pornography.
Many women and girls, with numbers going into the hundreds, have accused Nassar of sexual abuse; from Olympic gymnasts and even the young daughter of family friends.
His horrible crimes included abusing patents under the facade of performing medical treatments.
After a report by the Indianapolis Star in 2016 that included two women’s accounts of being molested by Nassar, more victims bravely came forward.
Despite previous investigations into Nassar’s actions being dropped, he was eventually charged and convicted.
Prior to his sentencing in January of 2018, over 150 women and girls gave victim-impact statements in court.
Education
Lawrence Gerard Nassar was born on August 16th, 1963, in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
He attended North Farmington Hugh School in Michigan, and graduated in 1981. He majored in kinesiology at the University of Michigan; he received his degree in 1985.
He enrolled in Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1988.
After failing biochemistry on two occasions, he managed to switch from a four-year course to a five-year course, which gave him time to continue his work with gymnastics. He graduated from medical school in 1993.
Gymnastics career
Nassar began work with the gymnastics team at his high school in 1978; by 1986, he was involved with the U.S. national gymnastics team, and was the national medicine coordinator for USA gymnastics in 1996.
In August of 1997, Nassar was named an assistant professor at Michigan State University at its College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Nassar would frequently affiliate himself with gymnasts; he was said to always take time to listen to them, and was counted upon to provide treats/snacks for girls who weren’t getting enough to eat during training.
He was part of the USA Gymnastics until 2015, when the organisation let him go, following a report of abuse.
Even though the USA Gymnastics told the FBI of the accusations surrounding Nassar, they did not argue when he publicly announced he had willingly retired.
Nassar still worked at Twisters Gymnastics Club and Michigan State University after leaving the organisation.
Victims
Nassar would tell many debilitated female gymnasts that injuries were common within the sport; this would allow him to alleviate aches and pains with that he called ‘intravaginal adjustment’.
Despite pelvic-floor manipulation being a genuine method of treatment, Nassar’s approach, which involved not using gloves, never gaining consent, and using the treatment for knee and ankle injuries, went against accepted practice and allowed him to molest his patients.
Nassar would rub breasts and genitals, and use un-gloved fingers to penetrate a patient’s vagina or anus.
Many of Nassar’s abused victims accepted his explanation, that he was performing genuine medical treatments, so no one questioned his methods.
Nassar even assaulted patients while parents, friends or others were nearby; this made it hard for anyone to believe that an assault had taken place.
Gymnasts recounted assaults by Nassar at his apartment, in his office (at Michigan State University), at the Twisters Gymnastics Club, and even at gymnastic events, including the Olympics.
It is speculated that Nassar molested a single victim over 800 times.
Nassar’s somewhat high position in the gymnastics world made many not wish to speak out against him; some were even concerned that doing so could end their careers.
The abuse by Nassar was reported numerous times, but was wrongly ignored on multiple occasions.
A gymnast did share worries with her coach in 1997, but was encouraged not to file an official complaint.
2004 saw Nassar, after a police report was filed against him, convince an officer he’d been providing legitimate medical care; he did this by using meterials he’d created himself.
Nassar was not detered, however, as in 2015, during an FBI investigation, he abused around 40 victims.
Rachel Denhollander was the first woman to publicly identify as a victims of Nassar’s sick ‘treatments’; thankfully, others began to speak out after this.
In addition to the gymnasts he assaulted, Nassar also molested the young daughter of a family friend; she was just six years old when it began, and continued until she was 12.
Sentencing
On November 22nd, 2017, Nassar pleaded guilty to seven counts of first-degree sexual assault.
In January of 2018, he received a sentence of 40 to 175 years in Ingham County Court. Later, another sentence of 40 to 125 years was delivered in Eaton County.
On external hard drives found in Nassar’s garbage, 37,000+ images of child pornography were found.
In 2017, Nassar pleaded guilty to three child porn charges and received 60 years for these crimes, on top of his existing sentences.
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