简体中文
Police dropped an investigation into disgraced former gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar in 2004 after he told them he was conducting legitimate medical treatment, according to documents released on Wednesday.
Brianne Randall-Gay was 17 when she was treated for scoliosis by Nassar, who massaged her breasts and attempted to put his fingers in her vagina. Randall-Gay’s mother subsequently complained to Meridian Township police department. However, Nassar said the treatment was part of “a medical technique known as Sacrotuberous Ligament Release” and gave police a PowerPoint presentation on the subject.
Police decided not to send the case to prosectors as they accepted Nassar’s explanation. It would be more than a decade until Nassar was brought to justice, during which time he abused dozens of female athletes under the guise of medical treatment.
“We missed it,” Meridian Township’s manager, Frank Walsh, said on Wednesday. “We’re not going to hide it. We were deceived.”
The release of the documents came as Nassar appeared on Wednesday in a Michigan courtroom for the start of his final sentencing hearing, and a judge said that a total of 265 people have come forward to declare that they were abused.
That number included the 150-plus victims who offered statements at a different hearing last week, as well as scores of new ones who are expected to speak over the next several days.
Nassar, the disgraced former gymnastics doctor, faces another prison sentence – his third – for molesting gymnasts at an elite Michigan club run by an Olympic coach.
“You took advantage of my innocence and trust,” 17-year-old Jessica Thomashow told Nassar, who sat at the defense table with his lawyers. “You were my doctor. Why? I ask myself that question all the time. What you did to me was twisted. You manipulated me and my entire family. How dare you.”
Judge Janice Cunningham has set aside several days for more than 60 women and girls who want to confront Nassar or have their statement read in court. The hearing could unfold much the same as last week’s proceedings in another county.
That hearing ended with Nassar getting to 40 to 175 years in prison, a sentence that judge described as Nassar’s “death warrant”.
Annie Labrie said what Nassar did to her made her “skin crawl”, but every adult around her assured her he was the only option, and she hid the abuse from her parents. She said it was imperative for society to understand Nassar’s pedophilia was not an isolated incident, and gymnastics and gyms like Twistars have a “specific culture” that allows people like him to flourish.
The practice of allowing accusers to speak even if they are not tied directly to a case has raised questions about fairness. But attorneys say the victim statements probably pose little risk on appeal, especially since Nassar pleaded guilty, agreed to allow the statements and is expected to get another long prison sentence as part of his deal with prosecutors.
“If you get what you bargained for, then you really can’t argue that you were prejudiced in any way,” said Margaret Raben, former leader of a Michigan association of criminal defense attorneys.
It’s not uncommon for prosecutors to introduce “aggravating” evidence at sentencing to support their request for a severe punishment. But a parade of victims offering emotional accounts of their abuse to the face of an abuser goes beyond the typical hearing.
Raben said there was a “horrible dynamic” last week in Judge Rosemarie Aquilina’s courtroom, even if the judge had the option to allow so many people to speak in a case that involved just seven victims.
“Her obvious delight was just off the wall,” Raben said, referring to Aquilina’s “death warrant” remark and others. “I am not defending Larry Nassar at all, but what I saw with her was a real abandonment of judicial demeanor … The process doesn’t change because everybody hates the defendant. That is the absolute glory, or should be, of the American justice system.”
A fellow Ingham County judge, William Collette, said Aquilina’s handling of the hearing was “outrageous”. Others, however, have praised her treatment of victims and their parents.
The case on Cunningham’s docket on Wednesday in Eaton County centers on Nassar’s assaults at Twistars, a Lansing-area gymnastics club that was run by 2012 Olympic coach John Geddert. Nassar admits penetrating three girls with his hands when he was supposed to be treating them for injuries.
So far, 65 victims want to speak in court or submit statements. Attorney Mick Grewal said 11 of his clients have signed up, including some who were inspired by the 150-plus young women and girls who appeared in Aquilina’s court. He called it a “cathartic experience”.
“Now they’re at a point in their healing process where they want to confront Larry, and they want to show the world that they are survivors and they are strong and they are part of this movement,” Grewal said. “It helps them through the healing process.”
He said the Nassar cases are extraordinary in the number of victims who have come forward.
“The only case that’s out there that’s even similar in stature is Penn State, and this is now six times as big as Penn State, maybe seven times,” Grewal said, referring to boys who said they were sexually abused by assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
(GUARDIAN)
