About 105 women are expected to share their stories of sexual abuse by former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State doctor Larry Nassar as part of his criminal sentencing. The testimonies, which started on Tuesday, are expected to take place through Friday.
Nassar pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with victims as young as six years old. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal child pornography charges. More than 150 women have said they were abused by Nassar, who was the USA Gymnastics doctor for nearly two decades.
Nassar sat in the witness stand so that the victims could address him directly. For many of the women, this marks the first and possibly only time they will have the opportunity to speak to him directly.
On Monday, away from the courtroom, Simone Biles came forward with her own account of abuse by Nassar. She joins Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney as recent Olympians who said they were abused by him. On Tuesday, Kyle Stephens was among those who emotionally confronted Nassar by recounting her first sexual experience when she was just six years old.
Judge Rosemarie Aquilina is presiding over the hearing. On Thursday, she informed the court room that Nassar said he does not know whether he can face witnesses and the impact statements anymore. Nassar submitted a six-page, single-spaced letter to her. He described the victim statements as a four-day "media circus."
"I do not know why you are complaining now," Aquilina told Nassar.
Nassar said that his letter was a "cry for community mental health."
• Here is the full rundown of the first day of impact statements by victims
• Here is the full rundown of the second day of impact statements by victims
Here is what the victims said on Wednesday, according to reporters in the room. Matt Mencarini of the Lansing State Journal, Lauren Gibbons of Michigan Live, Clayton Cummins of WILX News, Kate Wells of Michigan Radio and John Barr of ESPN are among the reporters providing live updates on Twitter.
The stories shared by the women contain graphic details and mature subject matter.
Jaime Dantzscher, Olympic artistic gymnast for Team USA
Danztscher was a member of the USA Gymnastics team that won bronze at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. She said because of Nassar's abuse, she battled anorexia and was hospitalized for being suicidal. Dantzscher can not recall the amount of times Nassar molested her but she said Nassar would digitally penetrate her while rubbing against her. It was not until 2016 that she realized Nassar had abused her. She addressed Nassar on Thursday and said "You even had the audacity to abuse me in my own bed, in my own room at the Olympics."
She went public with her allegations of abuse in Aug. 2016, which was met with criticism on social media by people who didn't believe her and a call from USA Gymnastics psychologist Allie Arnold for "positive" Nassar stories in the media.
"You pretended to be on my side" against abusive USAG coaches, staff," Dantzscher said. "But instead of reporting it, you used your power to manipulate me. You snuck me food and candy when you knew food was being restricted."
She did not accept his plea for an apology and said, "You are pure evil."
McKayla Maroney Statement
The attorney general's office read a statement on behalf of 2012 Olympian McKayla Maroney, who could not be in attendance. Maroney wrote that ever since starting gymnastics at the age of 18 months, it was an amazing story to make the Olympics "but not without a price." She met Nassar for treatment that he described was medically necessary and he started abusing her when she was 13 years old. The abuse did not end until she stopped competing. Maroney went public with her story of abuse in October and recalled an instance in which Nassar gave her a sleeping pill for a flight to Japan. When she woke up, she was in Nassar's hotel room and being abused.
"I thought I was going to die that night," Maroney wrote.
Maroney said that Michigan State, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee allowed Nassar to continue abusing children. She described Michigan State's 2014 investigation into Nassar as "botched." Judge Aquilina agreed and said the USOC's statement falls short.
Lindsey Lemke
Lemke, a former Michigan State gymnast, previously had a letter read on her behalf by her mother but decided to speak after hearing from other victims. Nassar started abusing her when she was 10 years old and was a scholarship athlete with the Spartans when the first reports of Nassar's abuse started to surface. She believes that Nassar abused her hundreds of times in the basement of his home in Holt, Michigan. She filed a lawsuit against him and met with police.
Lemke took a moment to address John Geddert, her coach at Twistars Gum, and called him a "coward" and a"disgrace" since much of the abuse occurred at him gym. She said that some gymnasts tried to take their own lives because of him. Geddert is being sued along with Michigan State and USA Gymnastics.
She also called former USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny a coward.
"Shame on you," she said of Michigan State.
She said that she was terrified of what the university would do to her because she came forward. Lemke said Michigan State "created an environment where victims were afraid to speak up."
Lemke addressed Kathie Klages, Michigan State former women's gymnastics coach, who allegedly was told of abuse in 1997 and remained silent for years. Lemke said that Klages deserves to to be behind bars with Geddert and Nassar.
"To (Michigan State President) Lou Anna Simon: You are no president of mine as a student and former athlete of MSU. Guess what? You're a coward too," Lemke said.
Simon reportedly told a woman that she was "too busy" to return to the courtroom and listen to the hearing after being in attendance on Wednesday.
"None of us had time in our schedule for Nassar to abuse us, but we had no choice," Lemke said.
"Larry, I hope you, John Geddert, Kathie Klages, USAG and all others realize you've pissed off the wrong army of women," she added.
This post will continue to be updated with the stories shared from the courtroom on Wednesday.
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