Dr. Nassar: 150 women accuse the doctor of the US Olympic team of violence
In American sports, one of the biggest scandals in its history has flared up. More than 150 women accuse Dr. Larry Nassar of sexual assault. The vast majority of them at the time of the commission of the crimes - alleged and proven - were minors. Some of them claim that harassment occurred in the presence of their parents.
Nassar, who has worked with the US Olympic gymnastics team for nearly thirty years, has already pleaded guilty to seven incidents of violence, as well as to the possession of child pornography (the confiscated videos were captured by the doctor himself). In December 2017, the court sentenced him to 60 years in prison only on these charges, but the doctor’s case will not be limited to them. We understand what is known about Dr. Nassar and why the victims of the doctor-rapist insist that the system covered him.
The victims
More than 150 women reported rape or harassment by mid-January 2018. Among them are the elite of women's American gymnastics and Olympic medalists: Eli Rysman, Jordan Weaber, Jamie Dunscher, McKayla Maroni and Gabby Douglas. They claim that they have been abused by Nassar for years. According to Maroni, once a doctor brought her to an unconscious state to rape: “He“ treated ”me at every opportunity. But the most terrible moment in my life was a trip to Tokyo, when on an airplane he gave me some kind of sleep pill. I woke up in his room, and in the meantime he was conducting his “treatment.” That night I thought I was going to die. "
Cases of violence, however, are not limited to sports institutions and competitions. One of the plaintiffs in the Nassar case, Kyle Stevens, claims that she first fell victim to the Ausea at the age of six when Nassar tried to seduce her. The violence continued for the next six years, during which Stephens' parents refused to believe that their acquaintance could be a molester.
Who is Dr. Nassar
Lawrence "Larry" Nassar’s medical career began in 1978 at North Farmington High School (a suburb of Detroit). Three years later, he received a diploma and recommendations that allowed him to enter the University of Michigan, where his specialty was kinesiology (a discipline that studies the movement of muscles; in Russia it is included in the section "biomechanics"). In 1985, he graduated from the university, and in 1986 he received a place in the medical headquarters of the US Olympic team in gymnastics. He worked in various positions for almost thirty years, until September 2015, after which he suddenly — and almost without publicity — resigned.
In addition, in 1988, Nassar began working with John and Catherine Geddert, who in 1996 opened the Twistars gymnastics school. This is a significant detail: John Geddert, the US gymnastics team coach at the 2012 Olympics (Nassar went to them as part of the American delegation), later accused of not responding to the athletes' complaints and choosing to hush up the scandal.
Similar claims are being made at the University of Michigan (not to be confused with the University of Michigan), where Nassar defended a diploma in osteopathy and worked since 1997. In 2014, after a complaint from one of the graduates, the university conducted an internal audit - and fully justified the doctor. In at least 18 cases, the university, where Nassar continued to work until August 2016, is the defendant, along with his former teacher.
Comments and implications
The fate of Nassar, who for several charges faces several life sentences, was predetermined at the end of 2017, but the public in the United States is much more interested in another question: how did a doctor of this magnitude manage to hide crimes for several decades?
Evidence against Nassar, who began to multiply exponentially one year after his departure from the national team, is full of shocking details and generally similar to each other: using the post of doctor and teacher or family friend's status, he committed child sexual abuse under the cover of a medical examination by teenagers. In many cases, the abuse occurred over several years, and the parents of the victims and their coaches either refused to believe them or ran into attempts to obstruct the internal investigation. Even when dozens of lawsuits were filed against Nassar, most of the plaintiffs chose to hide their names: in February 2016, they appeared in investigations as Jane Doe or unnamed victims.
The course of the case was given only in December 2016, when, during the arrest of Nassar, FBI agents found on his computer about 37,000 files related to child pornography. It was only in the autumn of 2017, in the wake of the scandal around Harvey Weinstein, that the case of a doctor who had raped girls and young women for decades received widespread publicity.
Three senior officials of the United States Gymnastics Federation - Chairman Paul Parrilla, Vice-Chairman Jay Binder and Treasurer Bitsy Kelly - have officially announced their resignation. A few days before, gymnast Elie Raisman said in an interview that the federation made her keep quiet about the violence from Dr. Nassar: “They simply said:“ We will understand. We have everything under control. Stop asking questions. Do not talk about it, because because of you, the investigation will start. ""
25.01.2017 A Michigan court sentenced Dr. Nassar to imprisonment ranging from 40 to 175 years (they will be added to the 60 years the convict received earlier). Nassar fully admitted his guilt and apologized to his victims. He will begin to serve his sentence on January 31.
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