Larry Nassar, the 54-year-old former\u00a0MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor whose work\u00a0took him to multiple Olympic Games,\u00a0received an effective life sentence when a federal judge on\u00a0Thursday sentenced him to 60\u00a0years\u00a0in federal prison on child pornography charges.<\/p>\n
“He has demonstrated that he should never again have access to children,” U.S. District Judge Janet Neff said as she imposed a sentence that went beyond guidelines calling for 22 to 27 years in prison.<\/p>\n
He was sentenced to 20 years on each of three counts to which\u00a0he’s\u00a0admitted. The sentences are to\u00a0be served consecutively.<\/p>\n
Neff also ordered that his federal time would be served consecutively to state sentences for sexual assault to which he’s also admitted.\u00a0He\u00a0will be sentenced next month on those charges.The courtroom was filled to capacity. Among those in attendance were several victims of Nassar’s admitted sexual assault, their relatives and their attorneys. Several victims said after the sentencing they were still trying to process their feelings, but it was a step toward justice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was blown away with what the judge did today, and I thought it was very fitting,” Larissa Boyce, who\u00a0first raised concerns about Nassar to an MSU coach in 1997<\/a>, said at a news conference after the hearing. “I can\u2019t thank her enough for the things that she said.”<\/p>\n In court filings last week,\u00a0Nassar’s attorneys\u00a0asked Neff\u00a0to show leniency<\/a>, saying the doctor had worked toward redemption by helping fellow inmates and taking Bible classes\u00a0since his arrest\u00a0nearly a year ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nassar, speaking in a barely audible voice from the courtroom podium on Thursday, told Neff he\u2019d long battled\u00a0an addiction he likened to alcoholism or drug addiction. His shame kept him from asking for help, he said. He said he hoped his crimes would educate people about the problem to prevent others from being hurt in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cYou go back and you wonder how I got down this path to begin with,\u201d he said. \u201cI really did try to be a good person. I really did try to help people \u2026 I hope one day I can be forgiven, and I\u2019m going to take every day of your sentence\u00a0 to try to better myself.\u201d<\/p>\n But Neff said Nassar\u2019s crimes hurt so many people on so many levels. That includes\u00a0the unnamed children in the pictures who feel assaulted every day knowing someone somewhere could be viewing their bodies, she said. It includes the women Nassar assaulted who now struggle to trust doctors and struggle with their own sense of self-worth.<\/p>\n He also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for trying to destroy the evidence. The U.S. Attorney’s Office\u00a0said Nassar paid to have his work laptop wiped clean and threw away hard drives containing the pornography.\u00a0Investigators were only able to obtain those hard drives\u00a0at Nassar’s Holt property\u00a0because the garbage truck happened to be running late that day, according to court records.<\/p>\n Some of the videos appeared to show Nassar assaulting young girls in a pool, investigators said.\u00a0As part of a deal with federal prosecutors to obtain his guilty plea, prosecutors agreed they would not charge him with alleged sexual exploitation\u00a0of children in relation to four reported victims.<\/p>\n Thursday’s sentencing ends one of three criminal cases against Nassar. He’s also pleaded guilty to\u00a0sexual assault charges in both\u00a0Ingham<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Eaton<\/a>\u00a0counties and\u00a0could get to up to life\u00a0in\u00a0prison in those\u00a0cases\u00a0when he’s sentenced\u00a0next month.<\/p>\n In still-pending lawsuits related to Nassar’s admitted crimes, more than 140 women or girls have\u00a0said Nassar assaulted them, often during medical appointments.<\/p>\n Nassar, who was led in cuffs\u00a0out of the courtroom at the Gerald R. Ford Federal Building in downtown Grand Rapids on Thursday,\u00a0was\u00a0for decades\u00a0an esteemed sports medicine doctor<\/a>. USA Gymnastics sent\u00a0him to\u00a0almost\u00a0every summer\u00a0Olympic\u00a0Games,\u00a0from\u00a01996\u00a0 in\u00a0Atlanta\u00a0\u2014 where he was\u00a0photographed in\u00a0the iconic image<\/a>\u00a0of an injured\u00a0Kerri\u00a0Strug being helped off a platform \u2014\u00a0to\u00a0London in\u00a02012.<\/p>\n He\u00a0started\u00a0working\u00a0at MSU, where he had earned his osteopathic medicine degree,\u00a0 in\u00a01997.<\/p>\n His public downfall began in September 2016, when\u00a0the Indianapolis Star\u00a0named Nassar<\/a>\u00a0in a report on USA Gymastics’ lackluster response to allegations of assault. Rachel Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of assault, was in the courtroom on Thursday.<\/p>\n The State Journal\u00a0reported that between 1997 and 2015,\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0at least seven women or girls say they raised concerns about Nassar’s actions to coaches, trainers, police or MSU\u00a0officials.<\/p>\n Among those to publicly accuse Nassar of abuse are Olympic medalists\u00a0Aly\u00a0Raisman<\/a>,\u00a0McKayla Maroney<\/a>,\u00a0Gabby\u00a0Douglas<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jamie\u00a0Dantzscher<\/a>. Maroney was in court for the sentencing with her mother.<\/p>\n Nassar left USA Gymastics in 2015.\u00a0MSU\u00a0fired him\u00a0in September 2016. He lost his medical license earlier this year.<\/p>\n Source:\u00a0lansingstatejournal.com<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n