Lawrence Gerard Nassar (born August 16, 1963) is an American convicted sex
offender, former USA Gymnastics national team doctor, former osteopathic
physician, and former professor at Michigan State University College of
Human Medicine. Nassar's sexual abuse of young athletes and the subsequent
cover-up ultimately led to the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal that began
in 2015, alleging that Nassar repeatedly sexually assaulted at least 265[2]
young women and girls under the guise of medical treatment.[3][4] His
victims included numerous Olympic and United States women's national
gymnastics team gymnasts.[5] Nassar has admitted to 10 of those accusations.
Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison on December 7, 2017 after
pleading guilty to child pornography & tampering with evidence charges 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 of minors.[6][7] On February 5, 2018, he
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. The Eaton County sentence will run concurrently with the
Ingham County sentence.[8] On the orders of the judge in charge of the
Federal Case, his state prison sentences are to run consecutively with his
federal sentence, amounting to a sentence of de facto life without
parole.[9][7]
Contents
1 Personal life
2 Medical career
3 Gymnastics career
4 Sexual assault accusations and convictions
4.1 Accusations
4.2 Convictions
5 Aftermath
6 References
7 External links
Personal life
Nassar was born on August 16, 1963, in Farmington Hills, Michigan, to Fred
Nassar (1925–2000) and Mary Nassar (1924–2019).[10][11] He began working as
a student athletic trainer for the women's gymnastics team at North
Farmington High School at age 15 in 1978 on the recommendation of his older
brother Mike, who was an athletic trainer at the school. Nassar graduated
from North Farmington High School in 1981.[12][13] He studied kinesiology at
the University of Michigan, where he earned his undergraduate degree in
1985.[13] During this time, he worked for the university's football and
track & field teams.[14]
He married Stephanie Lynn Anderson on October 19, 1996, and they have two
daughters and a son.[12] The couple separated after he was arrested on
suspicion of sex crimes, with Stephanie Nassar being granted a divorce in
July 2017 and gaining full custody of their three children.[15][16] Nassar
lived in Holt, Michigan at the time of his December 2016 arrest.
Medical career
Nassar began working as an athletic trainer for the USA Gymnastics national
team in 1986.[14] In 1993, he graduated from the Michigan State University
College of Osteopathic Medicine as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. He
completed his residency training in family practice at St. Lawrence Hospital
before completing a fellowship in sports medicine in 1997.[14]
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.[12] Nassar is listed as a co-author on at least six
research papers on the treatment of gymnastics injuries.[17] He began
working as a team doctor at Holt High School in 1996.[14]
Gymnastics career
In 1988, Nassar began working with John Geddert at Twistars, a gymnastics
training club.[14] He served as the national medical coordinator for USA
Gymnastics from 1996 until 2014.[14]
Sexual assault accusations and convictions
Further information: USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal
Accusations
While some gymnasts have said they complained in the 1990s about Nassar's
behavior, it was not until 2015 that USA Gymnastics took action against him.
The organization cut ties with Nassar "after learning of athlete
concerns."[18] In September 2016, The Indianapolis Star reported that
Rachael Denhollander and another former gymnast had accused Nassar of sexual
abuse.[19] He was fired by Michigan State on September 20, after having been
reassigned from clinical and teaching duties a month earlier.[18]
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 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.[20] Rachael Denhollander, one of the first
women to publicly accuse Nassar,[21] 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.[22]
Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney, using the #MeToo hashtag on Twitter,
said that Nassar had repeatedly molested her from 2008, when she was 13
years old, until she retired from the sport eight years later in 2016.[23]
Maroney subsequently filed a lawsuit against Nassar, Michigan State
University, the United States Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics.[24] 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 "paedophile doctor".[25]
During a 60 Minutes interview, Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman said that
Nassar had also sexually abused her.[26] Raisman said that Nassar molested
her when she was 15 years old.[27] Gabby Douglas sent a tweet saying that
"dressing in a provocative/sexual way incites the wrong crowd."[28] She was
criticized for it by fellow Olympic teammate Simone Biles and others, who
interpreted the tweet as criticism of Raisman and "victim-shaming".[27]
Douglas later apologized for the tweet,[29] and said she was also a victim
of Nassar's abuse.[30]
Former national team member Maggie Nichols also said that Nassar abused her.
He connected with her on Facebook and complimented her appearance on
numerous occasions. "I was only 15 and I just thought he was trying to be
nice to me" and that this behavior was part of his "grooming process".[5]
According to court filings and interviews, Nichols and her coach Sarah
Jantzi reported Nassar to USA Gymnastics officials on June 17, 2015 after
the coach overheard Nichols and another gymnast talking about Nassar's
behavior.[31] Biles came forward shortly after with accounts that she too
had been sexually abused by Nassar.[32] 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 its
effects.[33][34]
Convictions
Nassar was indicted on November 22, 2016 on several state charges of "sexual
assault of a child" from 1998 to 2005. The crimes allegedly began when the
victim was six years old.[35] He was charged with 22 counts of first-degree
criminal sexual conduct with minors: fifteen in Ingham County and seven in
neighboring Eaton County. The allegations asserted that Nassar had molested
seven girls under the guise that he was providing legitimate medical
treatment, both at his home and at a clinic on the MSU campus.[36] Bail was
set at $1 million, and Nassar was released from jail the same day after
posting bond.[37] He was arraigned on December 8, 2016, where he pleaded not
guilty to all charges.[38] He remained free on bail until his December 16
arrest on federal charges.
Nassar was arrested on December 16, 2016 after the FBI found more than
37,000 images of child pornography and a video of Nassar allegedly molesting
underage girls. He was denied bail and was ordered to remain in federal
prison.[39] On April 6, 2017, his medical license was revoked for three
years.[40] Nassar pleaded guilty on July 11 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 on
December 7, 2017.[9]
Nassar pleaded guilty in Ingham County Circuit Court, on November 22, 2017,
to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with minors under
the age of sixteen. He admitted to molesting seven girls, three of whom were
under the age of thirteen. He pleaded guilty to an additional three counts
of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Eaton County on November 29.[41]
As of January 18, 2018, 135 women had accused Nassar of sexual assault while
he worked for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University.[42] During the
following week, the number rose to 150.[43] In a lawsuit that was filed in
April 2017, a woman claimed that Nassar had sexually assaulted her while he
was still in medical school in 1992.[4]
On January 24, 2018, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina of Ingham County sentenced
Nassar to 40 to 175 years in prison for the sexual assault of minors to
which he pleaded on November 22.[6] Aquilina allowed Nassar's accusers to
present extended victim impact statements and dismissed objections raised to
this ruling by Nassar.[42] 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 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.[7]
Nassar was practicing without a Texas medical license while he worked at the
Karolyi Ranch in Huntsville. According to McKayla Maroney, this 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.[44] On January 31, 2018, a Michigan judge said that there were
"over 265 identified victims and an infinite number of victims" of sexual
misconduct.[2]
On February 5, 2018, Judge Janice Cunningham of Eaton County sentenced
Nassar to 40 to 125 years in prison for the three counts of criminal sexual
assault to which he had pleaded November 29.[45] 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.[8] The Eaton County sentence will run
concurrently with the Ingham County sentence. Nassar's state sentences will
begin upon completion of his federal child pornography sentence. Neff
ordered any sentences imposed at the state level to run consecutively with
the federal sentence.[9][7][45]
Nassar was transferred to the United States Penitentiary (USP) in Tucson,
Arizona in February 2018.[46] He had been transferred prior to this from
Eaton county jail to the federal detention center at FCI Milan near Milan,
Michigan. In August 2018, The Detroit News reported that Nassar was
transferred to the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
According to his lawyers, Nassar was assaulted almost as soon as he was
placed in the general population at USP Tucson, and an investigation
subsequently determined that Nassar could not be safely held at Tucson.[47]
As a result, he was moved to the United States Penitentiary, Coleman in
Florida.[48] His earliest possible release date from federal custody is
listed on the website of the Federal Bureau of Prisons as January 30, 2068
(however, the aforementioned website does not mention that January 30, 2068
is his earliest possible release date, as it just lists it as his release
date). If he is still alive at this point, he will be 104 years old and, if
released from federal custody on this date (which he is scheduled to do so),
will be immediately transferred to a Michigan state prison to serve out his
state sentences (which as mentioned above will run concurrently with each
other), where he must serve 40 years before being parole eligible. As a
result, Nassar will serve a minimum of 90 years, 1 month, & 23 days (the
amount of time he’ll serve provided that he’s released from both federal
custody and Michigan State Custody at the earliest points possible) to a
maximum of 235 years, though his federal sentence alone makes it extremely
probable that he’ll die in federal prison.
Aftermath
More than 150 federal and state lawsuits have since been filed against
Nassar, Michigan State University, the US Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics,
and the Twistars Gymnastics Club.[49] The entire 18-member board of USA
Gymnastics, including Steve Penny, tendered their resignations. MSU
President Lou Anna Simon and MSU Director of Athletics Mark Hollis have both
resigned, and other MSU officials are also under scrutiny.[50]
Nassar's crimes committed at MSU and USA Gymnastics have drawn comparisons
to coach Jerry Sandusky's sexual abuse crimes at Penn State University.[51]
In both of these cases, institutional authorities "turned the other way" or
tried to hide the activities of a child molester instead of immediately
contacting law enforcement.[52][53]
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.[54] MSU agreed to pay $500 million to 332 alleged
victims of Nassar, settling lawsuits filed by the victims. This was the
largest amount of money in history settled by a university for a sexual
abuse case.[55] On Christmas Eve 2019, Schuette's successor Dana Nessel
announced that she was suspending the investigation.[56]
More than 140 survivors 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 the 2018 ESPY Awards ceremony. Gymnasts
Sara Klein and Aly Raisman and softball player Tiffany Thomas Lopez accepted
on the survivors’ behalf and served as spokeswomen. Klein identified herself
as Nassar's first victim 30 years before.[57][58] They credited lead
detective Andrea Munford of the Michigan State Police, former assistant
Attorney General Angela Povilaitis, and Judge Rosemarie Aquilina of the 30th
circuit court in Ingham County, Michigan, for their work. Aquilina also
attended the ceremony, and singer MILCK performed her song "Quiet”,[59]
written from her own experience of sexual abuse.[60]
In late July 2018, it was reported that Nassar was seeking a new sentencing
hearing due to concerns of perceived bias by Judge Aquilina,[61] but his
request was later denied by Eaton County Judge Janice Cunningham.[62]
The 2020 Netflix documentary Athlete A is based on Nassar's scandal and
crimes. Later this year, Nassar’s request for a sentencing hearing for the
Ingham County charges, in addition to the accusations of Judge Aquilina
being biased, were rejected by the Michigan Court of Appeals. [63]