In a lawsuit filed today in Los Angeles, Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney provided more details of alleged sexual abuse by Dr. Larry Nassar and claims USA Gymnastics tried to buy her silence.
"On at least one occasion," the lawsuit says, Nassar "disrobed Plaintiff, mounted the Plaintiff while performing a medical treatment, placed his fingers into her anus and vagina, and had an erection."
The penetration of her vagina and anus under the guise of medical treatment occurred numerous times, starting when she was 13 and continued until 2013, Maroney, 22, alleges in the lawsuit.
She alleges it occurred at the Karolyi Ranch, an Olympic training camp in Texas; in California, and "at numerous locations around the country," as well as in Japan, the United Kingdom and Belgium.
The abuse consisted of Nassar, a former Michigan State University sports doctor and physician for the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team, digitally penetrated her vagina and anus under the guise of medical treatment.
Maroney says she was abused at the London Olympics the night before she won a team gold medal.
The lawsuit claims that USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee enabled the abuse by allowing Nassar access to underage athletes without supervision, in violation of their policies.
In addition, the suit alleges that Michigan State University and the US Olympic Committee "failed to properly investigate, discipline or remove" Nassar despite complaints over the years about his medical treatments.
The suit also accuses USA Gymnastics of attempting to silence Maroney with a non-disclosure agreement.
Maroney signed the agreement with USAG in December 2016 "after suffering for years from psychological trauma of her sexual abuse at the hands of Nassar, and in need of funds to pay for psychological treatment for her worsening psychological condition," the lawsuit said.
However, the lawsuit says the agreement includes a non-disparagement clause and confidentiality provision "in direct violation of California Law, and for the purpose of silencing a known victim of Nassar."
That clause said Maroney would owe $100,000 in penalities if she spoke of "her abuse or The Settlement."
McKayla's attorney, John Manly, called the confidentiality agreement "an immoral and illegal attempt to silence a victim of child sexual abuse."
"The US Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics were well aware that the victim of child sexual abuse in California cannot be forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement as a condition of a settlement," Manley said in a press release. "Such agreements are illegal for very good reasons, they silence victims and allow perpetrators to continue committing their crimes. That is exactly what happened in this case."
Nassar, who served as the MSU and US Olympic team doctor for two decades, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of criminal sexual conduct in Michigan state courts and was sentenced to 60 years in prison on federal child pornography charges on Dec. 7.
Nassar has been accused sexual abuse by than 140 female patients. Nassar admitted in his guilty pleas that these "treatments" were in fact criminal sexual abuse.
Nassar's alleged victims include three members of the 2012 Gold Medal Women's Gymnastics Olympic team -- Maroney, Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas.
Maroney expressed her frustration with MSU, USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic Committee in a letter to the federal judge who sentenced Nassar.
Maroney tells judge that Nassar is a 'monster'
"A simple fact is this. If Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic Committee had paid attention to any of the red flags in Larry Nassar's behavior I never would have met him, I never would have been "treated" by him and I never would have been abused by him," Maroney told the judge at a Dec. 6 sentencing hearing.
MSU and USA Gymnastics could not be immediately reached for comment about Maroney's lawsuit. MSU has denied wrongdoing in its handling of Nassar, who was fired in September 2016.
Steve Penny, CEO of USA Gymnastics, resigned March 16 amid allegations that his organization did not do enough to protect gymnasts against sexual abuse.
In June, USA Gymnastics released the results of an internal investigation that found the organization lacked proper policies and procedures to report allegations of sexual abuse to law enforcement. The board agreed to adopt 70 recommendations in the report, including a ban on adults from being alone with minor gymnasts, including sleeping in a hotel room. Adults will also be prohibited from having out-of-program contact with gymnasts via email, text or social media.
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