Raisman demands Nassar abuse probe

CHICAGO: Gymnastics star Aly Raisman on Friday faced down disgraced national team doctor Larry Nassar in court, calling him “sick” and demanding an independent probe to find out how he was apparently able to abuse young girls for years with impunity.

Raisman’s statement came on day four of searing testimonies from Nassar’s victims at his sentencing hearing. At least 85 victims have spoken and more have signed up to speak on Monday when the session is to resume, officials said. “You are so sick. I can’t even comprehend how angry I feel when I think of you,” Raisman, now 23, told the court in Michigan, where Nassar has pleaded guilty to 10 counts of criminal sexual conduct. He faces life in prison. “You took advantage of our passions and our dreams,” she added.

Raisman slammed the institutions where Nassar worked and was seemingly able to commit abuse undetected, lashing out at USA Gymnastics for “rotting from the inside.” “Even now, after all that has happened, USA Gymnastics has the nerve to say the very same things it has said all along. Can’t you see how disrespectful that is? Can’t you see how much that hurts?” she said. “We need an independent investigation of exactly what happened, what went wrong, and how it can be avoided for the future. Only then can we know what changes are needed.”

Raisman’s statements came shortly after her 2012 Olympic teammate Jordyn Wieber publicly revealed for the first time that she also had been abused by Nassar, starting from age 14. “The hardest thing I ever had to do is process that I am a victim of Larry Nassar,” said a noticeably nervous Wieber, who is now 22. “He treated us monthly at all of our national team camps,” she added. “I knew it felt strange, but he was the national team doctor. Who was I to question his treatments?”

Raisman, Wieber and two other members of the so-called “Fierce Five” 2012 Olympic gold medal-winning squad — Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney — have all said Nassar molested them in the guise of medical treatment.

Olympians Simone Biles, the reigning all-around champion from the Rio Games in 2016, and Jamie Dantzscher, who competed in Sydney in 2000 and took home a bronze medal, have also revealed that they were abused. The 54-year-old Nassar pleaded guilty to 10 counts, but prosecutors and civil attorneys have said there are more than 100 victims.

The list includes his onetime family babysitter and athletes in several women’s sports programs at Michigan State University, where Nassar worked. He is already facing 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges. This week, victims came forward one after the next to give impact statements to the judge who is considering Nassar’s sentence.