Larry Nassar, a doctor, trusted physician and someone everyone once loved was also a monster, an unapologetic child molester. Larry Nassar spent his days being held in the highest of regards, one of the best in the field and the doctor that without a doubt would cure you from whatever injury you were facing. He was every athlete’s hero until he wasn’t.
This week the little girls who were not little girls anymore had the opportunity to speak out against their attacker and ask Judge Rosemarie Aquilina to give him the maximum sentence for what he had put them through as young girls and teens.
They told the court room their stories of how this man, Larry Nassar, a doctor praised for his methods to bring athletes the gold, was also the doctor that for years would get so much pleasure from “healing” their injuries while breaking their spirits.
The girls spoke about their experiences, how every time they would go in for treatment Nassar would start his regular procedure, many of the girls too young at the time to comprehend that they in fact were being molested throughout appointments often times with their mothers even in the room. Larry Nassar would insert his bare fingers into their private places and close his eyes convincing the girls he was concentrating on their treatment, covering their lower halves with stacked towels or using his own body as his shield.
The older girls spoke about how they knew something was wrong but that Nassar was so highly regarded that they put the blame on themselves, convinced it was just a misunderstanding of their own. They were scared of what would happen if they spoke out and questioned an adult that everyone knew and loved. When girls began to come forward slowly, their assumptions were proven right when their claims were ignored either by the USA Gymnastics Association, Michigan State University or The U.S Olympic Committee.
Nassar used his license, reputation and these girl’s vulnerability to so viciously rob them of what they described in their testimonies as their youth, innocence and happiness.
156 survivors stepped up to the podium to not only confront their attacker but to get the voices that had been so cruelly taken away from them at such a young age back.
Larry Nassar was sentenced to 175 years in prison. He will stay with the words of his victims for the rest of his days.