Larry Nassar abuse victims: Who did the USA Gymnastics doctor assault?
LARRY Nassar abuse victims appeared in front a Senate Judiciary hearing on Wednesday on the FBI’s botched handling of their cases.
Four elite American gymnasts claim the FBI mishandled their cases against Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics doctor.
What is the Larry Nassar abuse case?
The Lassy Nassar abuse case relates to the sexual abuse of up to 330 female athletes – primarily minors – over two decades, starting in the 1990s, according to the BBC.
Nassar carried out much of his abuse while he was USA Gymnastic’s national teams doctor.
He was eventually caught in 2017 and pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges and seven charges of first-degree sexual assault in a state court.
He was sentenced to 175 years in prison and is being kept at the United States Penitentiary, Coleman in Florida.
An investigation by The Indianapolis Star over a nine month period found that abuse was widespread because “predatory coaches were allowed to move from gym to gym, undetected by a lax system of oversight, or dangerously passed on by USA Gymnastics-certified gyms”.
Who are Larry Nassar’s victims?
It’s believed Nassar abused 330 women and was able to continue abusing after being outed in an investigation by The Indianapolis Star in 2016.
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Among those were US Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Maggie Nichols, who testified at a Senate Judiciary hearing about the Inspector General’s report on the FBI handling of the Larry Nassar investigation.
The women claim their cases were initially ignored.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the Bureau made “fundamental errors” in 2015 and 2016 that “should have never happened, period”.
He told the gymnasts he was “deeply and profoundly sorry that so many people let you down over and over again,” adding: “On no planet is what happened in this case acceptable.”
It’s understood one FBI operative was fired and another resigned two weeks before the hearing.
Aly Raisman, 27
Raisman is a retired US artistic gymnast and two-time Olympian.
She says her abuse began during a competition in Melbourne, Australia when she was referred to Nassar for sore knees and back.
Nassar performed “invasive” massages that consisted primarily of touching private areas.
In front of the Senate Judiciary hearing on Wednesday, Aly claimed the FBI failed to properly investigate her complaints against Nassar and says she still suffers from PTSD.
Simone Biles, 24
Biles – a four-time Olympic gold medallist – slammed the FBI over their handling of the case.
She made headlines back in July after deciding to focus on her mental health at the Tokyo Olympics and has done it again with her testimony to the United States Senate on September 15, 2021.
She even called for agents who were involved in the investigation to be federally prosecuted.
“To be clear, I blame Larry Nassar and I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse,” she said.
“USA Gymnastics and the United States, Olympic and Paralympic Committee knew that I was abused by their official team doctor long before I was ever made aware of their knowledge.”
McKayla Maroney, 25
Maroney was a member of the American women’s gymnastics team dubbed the Fierce Five at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the team and an individual silver medal in the vault event.
On October 18, 2017, Maroney stated that Nassar repeatedly molested her, starting when she was 13 years old until her retirement from the sport in 2016.
Maroney is one of a number of women who have come forward with stories of sexual harassment or assault under the #MeToo hashtag on Twitter.
In December 2017, Maroney filed a suit against Nassar, Michigan State University, the United States Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics accusing the latter two of covering up the sexual abuse.
Maggie Nichols, 24
Nichols is an American former collegiate artistic gymnast.
She represented the United States in international competitions, including the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, where she won a gold medal with the American team and an individual bronze medal on floor exercise.
Before a knee injury in early 2016, she was a contender for the U.S. women’s gymnastics team at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
In January 2018, Nichols came forward as one of the many victims sexually abused by Nassar, starting when she was 15.
Nichols revealed that it was her coach who initially reported Nassar and his abuse to the USA Gymnastics staff.