Former Michigan State University physician Larry Nassar was under investigation by five different institutions during the last two and a half years of his tenure.
Nassar, who worked with the university and had a longstanding career with USA Gymnastics, was suspected of sexual misconduct by five organizations and institutes. MLive.com reports the doctor was under a sustained criminal investigation from April 2014 until he was fired by Michigan State in September of 2016.
An apparent lack of communication between MSU and other organizations allowed the physician to continue his practice unmolested.
In a 29-month period, MLive.com reports that Nassar is suspected of having assaulted an additional 20 patients. Somehow, the publication recounts, MSU was unaware of an open FBI investigation into Nassar’s harassment of three elite gymnasts – two of whom were Olympic gold-medalists.
The five institutions investigating Nassar were, according to MLive.com, largely based in Michigan.
MSU was checking into reports of Nassar’s misdeeds beginning in 2014, working alongside the university’s own police department. Meanwhile, the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office was investigating a 2014 complaint, while USA Gymnastics itself had opened an inquiry following feedback from top athletes.
A year later, in 2015, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began a case based on allegations from USA Gymnastics.
And today, hardly 24 hours before Nassar is due for sentencing, another gymnast revealed herself to have been assaulted by the physician.
“Most of you know me as a happy, giggly and energetic girl,” wrote 2016 Olympian Simon Biles, using the #metoo hashtag on Twitter. “But lately… I’ve felt a bit broken and the more I try to shut off the voice in my head the louder it screams.”
“I am not afraid to tell my story anymore. I too am one of the many survivors that was sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar.”
“For too long I have asked myself, ‘Was I too naïve? Was it my fault?’ I now know the answers to those questions. No. No, it was not my fault. No, I will not and should not carry the guilt that belongs to Larry Nassar, USAG, and others,” she wrote.
While Biles and several other prominent Nassar victims – among them, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, and Gabby Douglas – will not testify at the former physician’s sentencing tomorrow, their impact statements will be relayed by 2000 Olympian Jamie Dantzscher.
“What people need to understand is these aren’t just anonymous people,” said Rachel Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of molestation and assault.
“These were real little girls, some of them as young as 6 years old,” she told NBC affiliate WOOD-TV. “These were real young women who are suffering devastating consequences now and this could have been avoided.”
Sources
Larry Nassar saw patients for more than 2 years while under criminal investigation
Simone Biles says she was molested by gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar
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