SEXUALLY ABUSED: US OLYMPIC ATHLETES TESTIFY AGAINST FORMER TEAM DOCTOR
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| Victim and Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman speaks at the sentencing hearing for Larry Nassar, (L) a former team USA Gymnastics doctor who pleaded guilty in November 2017 to sexual assault charges, in Lansing, Michigan, US, January 19, 2018. ( Reuters ) |
US national gymnastic team's
former doctor, Larry Nassar, is accused of abusing more than 100 female
athletes under the pretense of treating them.
Gymnastics star Aly
Raisman on Friday faced down disgraced national team doctor Larry Nassar in
court, calling him "sick" and demanding an independent probe to find
out how he was apparently able to abuse young girls for years with impunity.
Raisman's statement
came on day four of searing testimonies from Nassar's victims at his sentencing
hearing. At least 85 victims have spoken and more have signed up to speak on
Monday when the session is to resume, officials said.
"You are so
sick. I can't even comprehend how angry I feel when I think of you,"
Raisman, now 23, told the court in Michigan, where Nassar has pleaded guilty to
10 counts of criminal sexual conduct. He faces life in prison.
"You took
advantage of our passions and our dreams," she added.
Raisman slammed the
institutions where Nassar worked and was seemingly able to commit abuse
undetected, lashing out at USA Gymnastics for "rotting from the
inside."
"Even now,
after all that has happened, USA Gymnastics has the nerve to say the very same
things it has said all along. Can't you see how disrespectful that is? Can't
you see how much that hurts?" she said.
"We need an
independent investigation of exactly what happened, what went wrong, and how it
can be avoided for the future. Only then can we know what changes are
needed."
Wieber adds her name
to victim list
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| Victim and former gymnast Jordyn Wieber speaks at the sentencing hearing for Larry Nassar, (foreground) a former team USA Gymnastics doctor who pleaded guilty in November 2017 to sexual assault charges, in Lansing, Michigan, US, January 19, 2018. ( Reuters ) |
Raisman's statements
came shortly after her 2012 Olympic teammate Jordyn Wieber publicly revealed
for the first time that she also had been abused by Nassar, starting from age
14.
"The hardest
thing I ever had to do is process that I am a victim of Larry Nassar,"
said a noticeably nervous Wieber, who is now 22.
"He treated us
monthly at all of our national team camps," she added. "I knew it
felt strange, but he was the national team doctor. Who was I to question his
treatments?"
Raisman, Wieber and
two other members of the so-called "Fierce Five" 2012 Olympic gold
medal-winning squad - Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney - have all said Nassar
molested them in the guise of medical treatment.
Olympians Simone
Biles, the reigning all-around champion from the Rio Games in 2016, and Jamie
Dantzscher, who competed in Sydney in 2000 and took home a bronze medal, have
also revealed that they were abused.
The 54-year-old
Nassar pleaded guilty to 10 counts, but prosecutors and civil attorneys have
said there are more than 100 victims.
The list includes
his onetime family babysitter and athletes in several women's sports programs
at Michigan State University, where Nassar worked.
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| This file photo taken on July 31, 2012 shows (From L) Gold medalist Team US Mckayla Maroney, Kyla Ross, Alexandra Raisman, Gabrielle Douglas and Jordyn Wieber celebrating after the women's team competition of the artistic gymnastics event of the London Olympic Games at the 02 North Greenwich Arena in London. |
He is already facing
60 years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.
This week, victims
came forward one after the next to give impact statements to the judge who is
considering Nassar's sentence.
The women have
spoken of the profound consequences of his abuse - such as struggling with
depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide, and of parents suffering with
guilt.
"I feel like I
have lost all enjoyment in life... I don't want to get out of bed. I don't want
to go to work. I don't want to shower," Amy Labadie said in court Friday.
University under
fire
Many of the victims
over the past four days have criticised USA Gymnastics, MSU and the US Olympic
Committee for not stopping Nassar sooner.
Under mounting
pressure, USA Gymnastics announced Thursday it would cut ties with the Karolyi
Ranch, a longtime training center for elite athletes in Huntsville, Texas -
where Biles says she was abused by Nassar.
Raisman was however
unmoved by their announcement, saying Friday that gymnasts were still training
at the center as the announcement was being made.
"Where is the
honesty? Where is the transparency? Why must the manipulation continue?"
she said.
Michigan State
University's board of trustees on Friday asked the state's attorney general's
office to conduct an outside review.
"We are making
this request because we believe your review may be needed to answer the
public's questions concerning MSU's handling of the Nassar situation," the
trustees said in a letter.
Source: AFP
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