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COURTESY LANSING STATE JOURNAL VIA NYT
Dr. Lawrence G. Nassar, who specialized in treating gymnasts and had a clinic at Michigan State, listened to testimony at a hearing on Friday in Lansing, Mich.
A longtime doctor for the U.S. gymnastics team was charged with sexual assault Wednesday in Michigan.
The doctor, Lawrence G. Nassar, faces 22 charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving at least seven victims. Prosecutors said that they expected more charges and that they were hearing from more victims.
“This guy is a monster,” Bill Schuette, the attorney general of Michigan, said at a news conference Wednesday. “You read those affidavits and it shocks you to the very core.”
The affidavits describe the accounts of victims as young as 10 who say Nassar digitally penetrated them and molested them under the guise of performing medical treatment. Many were repeatedly assaulted over the course of years.
The attorney general’s office said the assaults occurred at Nassar’s home treatment room; at Michigan State, where he had a clinic; and at a gymnastics club. According to the charges, the victims were 13-16 years old.
Three former gymnasts — Jamie Dantzscher, a 2000 Olympic bronze medalist; Jeanette Antolin; and Jessica Howard — told “60 Minutes” on Sunday that Nassar had touched them inappropriately while treating them.
Nassar was fired by USA Gymnastics in 2015 after working with the federation since 1986 overall and as its national medical coordinator since 1996. He was fired from Michigan State in September.
Dantzscher and other women have filed civil lawsuits against Nassar. The U.S. federation is also named as a defendant in a suit, accused of burying complaints about, and not adequately supervising, him.
Nassar, 53, also separately faces charges of sexual abuse of a family friend and possessing child pornography. FBI agents said he had tens of thousands of pornographic images as well as videos of himself molesting girls. Nassar is being held without bail on those charges. He will be arraigned on the new charges Thursday.
John Manly, a lawyer representing the three former gymnasts, told “60 Minutes” that “at least 60” women had come forward with accusations of sexual abuse by Nassar.
“At the end of the day, there are members of every single Olympic team since 1996 he did this to,” Manly said. “That’s what we’re going to end up with.”
Matt Newburg, a Michigan lawyer who has represented Nassar, declined to comment on the latest charges. Nassar has denied accusations against him in the past.
One of the victims quoted in the affidavits cited the pressure of competing at a high level as a reason she returned to Nassar despite the assaults:
“Victim B stated that as a competitive gymnast, you would do anything to get yourself better and that the coaches were always pressuring them to get better. She said it was like you were always in trouble if you were hurt. At the time, she thought she had to submit to this treatment to get better and never told her parents because she had to get better. Victim B stated that she and all the gymnasts trusted Nassar and that he was like a god to the gymnasts.”
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