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59-540: Lawrence Gerard Nassar (born August 16, 1963) is an American serial child rapist and former family medicine physician. From 1996 to 2014, he was the team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team , where he used his position to exploit and sexually assault hundreds of young athletes as part of the largest sexual abuse scandal in sports history . In 2016, Nassar was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting at least 265 young women and girls under

118-406: A 60 Minutes interview, that Nassar had also sexually abused her, when she was 15 years old. Gabby Douglas sent a tweet saying that "dressing in a provocative/sexual way incites the wrong crowd." She was criticized for it by fellow Olympic teammate Simone Biles and others, who interpreted the tweet as criticism of Raisman and " victim-shaming ". Douglas apologized for the tweet and said that she

177-524: A Michigan sex offender for the rest of his life. That part of the sentence was purely symbolic, as Nassar's federal and state sentences are consecutive, essentially guaranteeing he will die in prison. Aquilina allowed Nassar's accusers to present extended victim impact statements and dismissed objections raised to this ruling by Nassar. During the sentencing, the judge informed Nassar that he had missed numerous chances to receive treatment for his sexual urges, as Nassar had been aware of these urges himself from

236-498: A Michigan state prison when he is released from federal custody; his two state sentences will be served concurrently. He is a central figure of the 2020 film Athlete A , a documentary about the scandal. A Lebanese American , Nassar was born in Farmington Hills, Michigan , on August 16, 1963. In 1978, he began working as a student athletic trainer for the women's gymnastics team at North Farmington High School at age 15 on

295-513: A child from 1998 to 2005. The crimes allegedly began when the victim was six years old. He was charged with 22 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with minors: 15 in Ingham County and seven in neighboring Eaton County . The allegations asserted that Nassar had molested seven girls under the guise of providing legitimate medical treatment, both at his home and at a clinic on the MSU campus. Bail

354-609: A documentary about Nassar's serial sexual abuse and subsequent cover-ups by the various institutions he worked with, titled At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal . The 2020 Netflix documentary Athlete A is also based on Nassar's scandal and crimes. Later that year, Nassar's request for a sentencing hearing for the Ingham County charges, in addition to the accusations of Aquilina being biased, were rejected by

413-536: A fellowship in sports medicine in 1997. He began working as an assistant professor at MSU's Department of Family and Community Medicine in the College of Human Medicine in 1997, where he earned $ 100,000 a year and worked with many of the current staff and faculty still practicing there (equivalent to $ 189,801 in 2023). Nassar is listed as a co-author on at least six research papers on the treatment of gymnastics injuries. Nassar began working as an athletic trainer for

472-424: A girl's trust and friendship, he would insert his ungloved finger into her vagina during physical therapy , describing this as normal "pressure point" therapy for pain relief. On some of these occasions a parent was in the room, unaware of what happened. In October 2017, Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney , using the #MeToo hashtag on Twitter , said that Nassar had repeatedly molested her from 2008, when she

531-472: A maximum of 125 years in prison for the three counts of criminal sexual assault to which he had pleaded guilty on November 29, 2017. Nassar apologized for his years of abuse, saying that the strong effects that his victims' statements had on him "pales in comparison" to the suffering he inflicted on them. Despite this, Cunningham stated that Nassar was still "in denial" about the "devastating impact" of his crimes. The Eaton County sentence will run concurrently with

590-996: A nearby hospital, he was transferred to Federal Correctional Institution, Lewisburg , a medium-security prison in Pennsylvania. As of 2018, more than 150 federal and state lawsuits had been filed against Nassar, Michigan State University, the US Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, and the Twistars Gymnastics Club. The entire 18 member board of USA Gymnastics, including Steve Penny , tendered their resignations. Michigan State University (MSU) President Lou Anna Simon and MSU Director of Athletics Mark Hollis have both resigned, and other MSU officials are also under scrutiny. Nassar's crimes committed at MSU and USA Gymnastics have drawn comparisons to coach Jerry Sandusky 's sexual abuse crimes at Penn State University . In both of these cases, institutional authorities "turned

649-519: A pedophile on a silver platter." After the testimony by the gymnasts, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray testified, speaking to the gymnasts that he was "deeply and profoundly sorry that so many people let you down over and over again." According to a report issued in July ;2021 by the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz, at least 70 more athletes were subjected to abuse between

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708-587: A young age. She also said that there were likely dozens of additional victims who had not come forward, and made it clear that Nassar will never be free again. Nassar was practicing without a Texas medical license while he worked at the Karolyi Ranch , which since 2001 had been the USA Gymnastics designated U.S. Women's National Gymnastics Training Center in Huntsville, Texas. According to McKayla Maroney , this

767-509: Is Catholic and, before his arrest, volunteered in his parish as an Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion . United States women%27s national gymnastics team As of 2024, the U.S. team is the reigning World team champion and the reigning Olympic team gold medalists, with the five gymnasts nicknamed the "Golden Girls." The U.S. women won the team competition bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics . Afterwards, they did not win another Summer Olympics or World Championships medal until

826-688: Is the only American gymnast to win both the Olympic and World all-around titles. As of June 2, 2024: Names in italics are alternates who received a team medal. Names in italics are alternates who received a team medal. This list includes all American female artistic gymnasts who have won at least four medals at the Olympic Games and the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships combined. Nine national team gymnasts, one national team coach, and one official have been inducted into

885-479: The 2018 ESPY Awards ceremony. Gymnasts Sarah Klein and Aly Raisman and softball player Tiffany Thomas Lopez accepted the award on everyone's behalf and served as spokeswomen. Klein said she had been Nassar's first victim, 30 years earlier. They acknowledged lead detective Andrea Munford of the Michigan State Police , former assistant Attorney General Angela Povilaitis, and Judge Rosemarie Aquilina of

944-663: The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame : The Indianapolis Star The Indianapolis Star (also known as IndyStar ) is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana , United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the Indianapolis News ceased publication. It won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2021 and

1003-578: The Karolyi Ranch near Huntsville, Texas , gave Nassar an opportunity to take advantage of the gymnasts and made them afraid to speak up about the abuse. Rachael Denhollander, one of the first women to accuse Nassar publicly, said in court in May 2017 that Nassar had sexually abused her on five doctor's visits in 2000 when she was 15 years old. In May 2017, victim impact statements during pre-trial hearings, sentencing, and later interviews, several victims described Nassar's modus operandi : after having gained

1062-508: The Michigan Court of Appeals . From 1996 to 2017, Nassar was married to his wife, Stefanie ( née Anderson), and the couple had three children together. Nassar lived in Holt, Michigan , at the time of his December 2016 arrest. The couple separated after he was arrested on suspicion of sex crimes, and his wife was granted a divorce in July 2017, gaining full custody of their children. Nassar

1121-718: The Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting twice, in 1975 and 1991. It is currently owned by Gannett . The Indianapolis Star was founded on June 6, 1903, by Muncie industrialist George F. McCulloch as competition to two other Indianapolis dailies, the Indianapolis Journal and the Indianapolis Sentinel . It acquired the Journal a year and two days later, and bought the Sentinel in 1906. Daniel G. Reid purchased

1180-495: The Star in 1904 and hired John Shaffer as publisher, later replacing him. In the ensuing court proceedings, Shaffer emerged as the majority owner of the paper in 1911 and served as publisher and editor until his death in 1943. Central Newspapers, Inc. and its owner, Eugene C. Pulliam —maternal grandfather of future Vice President Dan Quayle —purchased the Star from Shaffer's estate on April 25, 1944, and adopted initiatives to increase

1239-473: The Star was honored for its 1974 series on corruption within the Indianapolis Police Department . It was cited again in 1991 for its 1990 series on medical malpractice . In 2021, the Star was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for an investigation into attacks by police K-9 units . The Indianapolis Star at one time had the largest and most advanced printing presses in

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1298-788: The USA Gymnastics national team in 1986. In 1988, Nassar began working with John Geddert at Twistars, a gymnastics training club. He began working as a team doctor at Holt High School in 1996. He served as the national medical coordinator for USA Gymnastics from 1996 until 2014. Female athletes have stated they complained to authorities – including various employees at Michigan State University – about Nassar's behavior starting in at least 1997, with some athletes stating abuse occurred in 1994 but USA Gymnastics did not take action against him until 2015. According to court filings and interviews, Maggie Nichols and her coach, Sarah Jantzi, reported Nassar to USA Gymnastics officials on June 17, 2015, after

1357-505: The 1984 when the Olympic team won silver. During that competition, Mary Lou Retton also became the first American to win the individual all-around gold medal. The Americans started consistently winning Olympic and World team medals in the early 1990s with future Hall of Famers Shannon Miller and Dominique Dawes . The 1996 Olympic team, known as the Magnificent Seven , was the first American team to win Olympic gold. An iconic moment in

1416-401: The 2004 Olympics, they won the team silver, and Carly Patterson became the second American gymnast to win the individual all-around. The U.S. team continued their success in the next quad. They won another Olympic silver medal in 2008. Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson were two of the best gymnasts of their era and finished first and second in the 2008 individual all-around. They won gold at

1475-463: The 2011 Worlds and then won gold at the 2012 Olympics by over five points. The 2012 team was nicknamed the Fierce Five and included Gabby Douglas , the first African American woman to win the Olympic individual all-around. In 2013, Simone Biles started her senior career and helped the U.S. team dominate the sport through 2016. In addition to the team gold medals, Biles won the individual all-around at

1534-399: The 30th Circuit Court in Ingham County, Michigan , for their work. Aquilina also attended the ceremony, and singer MILCK performed "Quiet", a song written from her own experience of sexual abuse. In late July 2018, Nassar sought a new sentencing hearing, claiming that Aquilina was unfairly biased; his request was denied by Eaton County Judge Janice Cunningham. In 2019, HBO released

1593-504: The Ingham County sentence. Nassar's state sentences will begin upon completion of his federal child pornography sentence. Judge Janet T. Neff ordered any sentences imposed at the state level to run consecutively with the federal sentence. Nassar spent time in the Eaton County jail and the federal detention center at Federal Correctional Institution, Milan in Michigan . In February 2018, he

1652-533: The Olympics, with eleven medals, is Simone Biles (7 gold, 2 silvers, 2 bronze). The United States women team is currently third in the all-time medal count for the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships . The first American gymnast to win a medal at the World Championships was Cathy Rigby who won silver on beam in 1970 . The first female American gymnast to win a world title was Marcia Frederick in 1978 on

1711-600: The Star about Nassar and USA Gymnastics' failure to investigate her complaint about him. This resulted in a September 2016 story on Nassar specifically. After the Nassar story, the Star was approached by many of Nassar's victims who shared similar stories of abuse. Nassar was charged with criminal sexual conduct in November 2016. The Star has won the Pulitzer Prize once for national reporting and twice for investigative reporting. In 1975,

1770-794: The Worlds and Olympics for four straight years. The 2016 Olympic team, featuring Biles and veterans Douglas and Aly Raisman , was named the Final Five . They won the team competition by more than eight points. The USA Gymnastics women have won the Olympic Gold four times, in 1996 , 2012 , 2016 , and 2024 Summer Olympics. These successes led to the nicknames Magnificent Seven , Fierce Five , Final Five , and Golden Girls, respectively. They won four silvers in 1984 , 2004 , 2008 , and 2020 and three bronzes in 1948 , 1992 and 2000 . The 2016 team name alluded to Márta Károlyi 's final team to coach and that

1829-529: The case specifically praised The Indianapolis Star for uncovering Nassar's decades-long history of abuse. The Star began its investigative reporting into Nassar and USA Gymnastics in 2016 and published its first related article in August 2016 when it shed light on USA Gymnastics' failure to properly investigate credible complaints of sexual abuse or pass the complaints on to police. After the August 2016 story, one of Nassar's victims, Rachael Denhollander , approached

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1888-409: The coach overheard Nichols and another gymnast talking about Nassar's behavior. In September 2016, USA Gymnastics cut ties with Nassar "after learning of athlete concerns". On September 20, 2016, The Indianapolis Star had reported that Rachael Denhollander and another former gymnast had accused Nassar of sexual abuse. After having been reassigned from clinical and teaching duties in August, Nassar

1947-564: The death of his father in 1975, a role he retained until his own death in 1999. In September 1995, the newsroom staffs of the Star and the News merged. In 1999, the News ceased publication, leaving the Star as the only major daily paper in Indianapolis. Soon thereafter the trustees of Central Newspapers, Inc., the owner of the Star and other newspapers in Indiana and Arizona, began investigating

2006-419: The effects of the abuse on her life. On September 15, 2021, four elite American gymnasts, McKayla Maroney , Simone Biles , Maggie Nichols , and Aly Raisman , testified before the U.S. Senate the mishandling by FBI agents of abuse allegations brought against Nassar and how the agents made false statements regarding their reports and misinformation about the botched investigation. Maroney testified that she

2065-459: The following week, the number rose to 150. In a lawsuit that was filed in April ;2017, a woman claimed that Nassar had sexually assaulted her while he was in medical school in 1992. On January 24, 2018, judge Rosemarie Aquilina of Ingham County sentenced Nassar to a minimum of 40 to a maximum of 175 years in prison for the sexual assault of minors. Upon release, Nassar would have to register as

2124-589: The guise of medical treatment. His victims included numerous Olympic and United States women's national gymnastics team gymnasts. Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison on December 7, 2017, after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography and tampering with evidence on July 11, 2017. On January 24, 2018, Nassar was sentenced to an additional 40 to 175 years in Michigan State Prison , after pleading guilty in Ingham County to seven counts of sexual assault . On February 5, 2018, he

2183-430: The nation. The Pulliam Production Center at 8278 N. Georgetown Road on the northwest side of Indianapolis cost $ 72 million and covers 200,000 square feet (19,000 m ). It opened in November 1995 as a packaging center and started printing numerous newspapers including Indianapolis Star in 2001. The press hall that houses the four MAN Roland Geoman presses has 30,672 square feet (2,850 m ) on two levels. Each of

2242-401: The other way" or tried to hide the activities of a child molester instead of immediately contacting law enforcement. In January 2018, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette promised a full investigation into how Nassar was able to abuse young women for decades while working at the state's university. MSU agreed to pay $ 500 million to 332 of Nassar's alleged victims, settling lawsuits filed by

2301-441: The paper's circulation. In 1944, the Star had trailed the evening Indianapolis News but by 1948 had become Indiana's largest newspaper. In 1948, Pulliam purchased the News and combined the business, mechanical, advertising, and circulation operations of the two papers, with the News moving into the Star's building in 1950. The editorial and news operations remained separate. Eugene S. Pulliam took over as publisher upon

2360-594: The presses weighs 2,100 short tons (1,900 t), stands seven stories tall, and can print 75,000 papers an hour. In January 2023, Gannet laid off 50 employees at the Pulliam Production Center. At the time the facility employed 145 people. A year later Gannet announced the center would close April 9 and printing of the Indianapolis Star will move to the company's press site in Peoria, Illinois . Part of

2419-627: The recommendation of his older brother Mike, who was an athletic trainer at the school. Nassar graduated from North Farmington High School in 1981. He studied kinesiology at the University of Michigan , where he earned his undergraduate degree in 1985. During this time, he worked for the university's football and track and field teams. In 1993, Nassar graduated as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine . He completed his residency training in family practice at St. Lawrence Hospital before completing

Larry Nassar - Misplaced Pages Continue

2478-656: The rest of his life. On November 22, 2017, Nassar pleaded guilty in Ingham County Circuit Court to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with minors under the age of 16. He admitted to molesting seven girls, three of whom were under the age of 13. He pleaded guilty to an additional three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Eaton County on November 29. As of January 18, 2018, 135 women had accused Nassar of sexual assault while he worked for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University . During

2537-658: The sale of the small chain to a larger entity. In 2000, the Gannett Company acquired the paper, amongst others when it purchased the firm "Central Newspapers" for $ 2.6 billion, leaving Indianapolis with no locally owned newspaper other than the Indianapolis Recorder , a weekly mainly circulated in the African-American community. On July 27, 2012, it was announced that The Indianapolis Star would relocate from its headquarters at 307 North Pennsylvania Street. It

2596-507: The sport's history came late in the competition, when an injured Kerri Strug stuck a vault to secure the title. After 1996, the team regressed for several years as their stars took breaks from competing. Márta Károlyi headed the program after the 2000 Olympics, ushering in an era of success for the U.S. team as they became one of the most dominant countries in women's gymnastics. The U.S. team has medalled in every Olympics and Worlds since 2000. They won their first World gold medal in 2003. At

2655-580: The team structure will be changed to four members beginning with the 2020 Olympic Games. The 1988 Olympic Games was the only year in which the team did not medal since its formation in 1982; they missed the bronze medal by one controversial deduction. Six American women have won the Olympic individual all-around title, including six consecutive titles from 2004–24: Mary Lou Retton (1984), Carly Patterson (2004), Nastia Liukin (2008), Gabby Douglas (2012), Simone Biles (2016), Sunisa Lee (2020), and Simone Biles (2024). The most decorated American gymnast at

2714-501: The time of reports to the FBI and the arrest of Nassar by state authorities, while Nassar's victims stated that the number abused in that period was 120. In April 2022, 13 of Nassar's victims filed a lawsuit against the FBI for negligence and other alleged investigatory failures related to the investigation. In 2024, the lawsuit was settled for $ 138.7 million. On November 22, 2016, Nassar was indicted on several state charges of sexual assault of

2773-587: The uneven bars. The most decorated American gymnast at the World Championships is Simone Biles , who won 25 medals (19 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze) from 2013 to 2019. The United States won team gold in 2003 , 2007 , 2011 , 2014 , 2015 , 2018 , 2019 , 2015 , and 2015 . Additionally, eight American women have won the individual World all-around title: Kim Zmeskal (1991), Shannon Miller (1993-1994), Chellsie Memmel (2005), Shawn Johnson (2007), Bridget Sloan (2009), Jordyn Wieber (2011), Simone Biles (2013-2015, 2018-2019, 2023), and Morgan Hurd (2017). Biles

2832-594: The victims. This was the largest amount of money in history settled by a university for a sexual abuse case. On Christmas Eve 2019, Schuette's successor, Dana Nessel , announced that she was suspending the investigation. More than 140 victims of Nassar's abuse appeared on stage together at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles , California , on July 18, 2018, to receive the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at

2891-561: Was 13 years old, until she retired from the sport in 2016. Maroney subsequently filed a lawsuit against Nassar, Michigan State University, the United States Olympic Committee , and USA Gymnastics. The lawsuit accused USA Gymnastics of covering up the sexual abuse by requiring her to sign a non-disclosure agreement in her $ 1.25 million settlement. Maroney's attorney John Manly called Nassar a " pedophile doctor". In November 2017, Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman said during

2950-717: Was also a victim of Nassar's abuse. In January 2018, former national team member Maggie Nichols said that Nassar abused her. Nassar had connected with her on Facebook and complimented her appearance on numerous occasions. Nichols stated, "I was only 15 and I just thought he was trying to be nice to me. Now I believe this was part of the grooming process." Also in January 2018, Biles came forward with accounts that she, too, had been sexually abused by Nassar. In January 2018, Jordyn Wieber made an impact statement at Nassar's court sentencing, in which she also accused Nassar of sexually abusing her during her time at USA Gymnastics and talked of

3009-409: Was fired by Michigan State University on September 20, 2016. In February 2017, three former gymnasts, Jeanette Antolin , Jessica Howard , and Jamie Dantzscher , gave an interview for 60 Minutes in which they said that Nassar had sexually abused them. They also alleged that the " emotionally abusive environment" at the national team training camps run by Béla and Márta Károlyi , at

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3068-467: Was later announced that the new location would be the former Nordstrom department store in Circle Centre Mall . This move took place from the summer to fall of 2014. The former location had been used since 1907. After Larry Nassar , USA Gymnastics national team osteopathic physician, was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison in January 2018 for sexually abusing female athletes, the prosecutor in

3127-437: Was met with silence by an FBI agent after telling the agent of Nassar's "... molestations in extreme detail." She further stated that the FBI falsified her statement, said the agents involved should be indicted, and criticized Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco for not appearing at the hearing. Raisman testified that the FBI made her feel that the "abuse didn't count" but she felt it "was like serving innocent children up to

3186-421: Was revoked for three years. On July 11, 2017, Nassar pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography in 2004, possession of pornographic images of children dating from 2004 to 2016, and tampering with evidence by destroying and concealing the images. Judge Janet T. Neff sentenced Nassar to 60 years in federal prison (three consecutive terms of 20 years) on December 7, 2017, followed by supervised release for

3245-468: Was sentenced to an additional 40 to 125 years in Michigan State Prison after pleading guilty to an additional three counts of sexual assault in Eaton County. On the orders of the judge in charge of the federal case, his state prison sentences are to run consecutively with his federal sentence, ensuring a de facto sentence of life imprisonment without parole . Nassar will be transferred to

3304-441: Was set at $ 1 million, and Nassar was released from jail the same day after posting bond. On December 8, 2016, he was arraigned when he pleaded not guilty to all charges. He remained free on bail until he was arrested after the FBI had found more than 37,000 images of child pornography and a video of Nassar molesting underage girls. He was denied bail and ordered to remain in federal prison. On April 6, 2017, his medical license

3363-406: Was stabbed 10 times at USP Coleman. The stabbing was allegedly motivated by lewd remarks Nassar made while watching the 2023 Wimbledon Championships . Nassar was stabbed twice in the neck, twice in the back, and six times in the chest, leaving him with a collapsed lung . Four other inmates pulled the assailant off Nassar, and prison guards performed life-saving measures on him. After being treated at

3422-751: Was transferred to United States Penitentiary, Tucson (USP) in Arizona . According to his lawyers, Nassar was assaulted almost as soon as he was placed in the general population at USP Tucson, and an investigation determined that he could not be safely held at Tucson. In August 2018, Nassar was transferred to the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , then to the United States Penitentiary, Coleman in Florida. On July 9, 2023, Nassar

3481-463: Was where Nassar molested young women for more than 15 years. Practicing medicine without a license in Texas is a third-degree felony, although it is rarely prosecuted. On January 31, 2018, a Michigan judge said that there were "over 265 identified victims and an infinite number of victims" of sexual misconduct. On February 5, 2018, judge Janice Cunningham of Eaton County sentenced Nassar to a minimum of 40 to

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