The saga of Larry Nassar has finally seen some positive news for a number of the victims and survivors of the serial assailant.
Nassar, who has a doctor at Michigan State University and later became the doctor for the USA national gymnastics team, was arrested in 2016 for having thousands of photos of child pornography on his computer as well as videos of him molesting underage girls. At the end of 2017 and over the course of January 2018, he went on trial after more than 300 women came forward admitting that they had been sexually abused by Nassar.
Over the course of the trial, judge Rosemarie Aquilina invited accusers to come forth and give detailed statements of their abuse. Many women came forward and gave their testimony and one father of two victims even asked the judge if he would be allowed five minutes alone with the man before lunging across the courtroom at him. He was sentenced to over 100 years in prison, but some believed that this was not enough.
BREAKING: Michigan State Univ. says it has reached $500,000,000 settlement with 332 women and girls who say they were sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar.
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 16, 2018
Michigan State University, where a great deal of the abuse occurred, announced earlier today that they would be releasing a $500 million settlement to the victims affected on their campus. According to CNN, the settlement includes $425 million to be distributed among the victims that have come forward while the remaining $75 million will be set aside for future claimants alleging sexual abuse who come foward.
The settlement came to be through mediation between lawyers of the university and lawyers representing 332 of Nassar’s victims, the New York Times reports.
The Times goes on to report John Manly, a lawyer for many of the victims as saying, ““This historic settlement came about through the bravery of more than 300 women and girls who had the courage to stand up and refuse to be silenced. It is the sincere hope of all of the survivors that the legacy of this settlement will be far-reaching institutional reform that will end the threat of sexual assault in sports, schools and throughout our society.”
While this is a step in the right direction, the settlement does not extend to all of Larry Nassar’s victims; it merely extends to those affected on the Michigan State University campus. Lawsuits still remain in place for those who came forward from USA Gymnastics as well as the United States Olympic Committee.