Larry Nassar Prison Stabbing Stemmed From Lewd Remark: Report

FLORIDA — The suspect accused of stabbing disgraced gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar in a Florida prison Sunday told prison workers it happened after Nassar made a lewd comment while watching a tennis match, a source told The Associated Press.

Nassar, 59 was attacked inside his cell at the United States Penitentiary Coleman, but surveillance cameras only record common areas and corridors, The Associated Press reported.

Nassar's attacker was a fellow prisoner armed with a makeshift weapon, sources told the outlet.

The USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University sports medicine doctor was sentenced to life in prison after being accused of molesting more than 150 young women and girls in his care.

The Associated Press first reported Monday that Nassar was stabbed in the back and chest and was in stable condition. In a subsequent report on Monday, The Daily Beast reported Nassar was “stabbed twice in the neck, six times in the chest, and twice in the back" Sunday afternoon.

“He has a collapsed lung,” Joe Rojas, the president of the union that represents staffers at U.S. Penitentiary Coleman, told The Daily Beast. “He is lucky to be alive and the only reason he is alive, in my opinion, is because of the staff members who were there.”

The United States Penitentiary Coleman is a high-security facility which houses 1,214 male inmates. According to The Associated Press, cell doors on most federal prison units are typically open during the day, allowing prisoners to move about.

A Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson told The Daily Beast Monday that the FBI has been notified of the stabbing and an internal investigation is underway.

Nassar’s stabbing comes weeks after “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski’s suicide at a North Carolina federal medical center and amid lingering fallout from Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 jail suicide, all of which highlight the potential for serious or fatal attacks even in high or maximum security prisons.

“This kind of violence in our federal prisons is inexcusable,” Daniel Landsman, the deputy director of policy at the criminal justice advocacy group FAMM, or Families Against Mandatory Minimums, told The Associated Press. “The failures that led to this assault are not isolated — too often we see similar incidents impact incarcerated people across the country.”

According to Rojas, Nassar mostly “[keeps] to himself” at the facility and hasn't had another issue with a fellow inmate in the four years he has been there.

Nassar pleaded guilty in November 2017 to molesting multiple girls and women at his Michigan State University office, his home and a Lansing-area gymnastics club, often while their parents were in the room.

After he had already been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for child pornography crimes, Nassar returned to court in January 2018, when a judge sentenced him to up to an additional 175 years behind bars.

Before handing down her sentence of 40 to 175 years, Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said Nassar did not perform medical treatments.

"You did this for your pleasure and your control," she said. "I just signed your death warrant ... It is my honor and privilege to sentence you. You do not deserve to walk outside a prison ever again. You have done nothing to control those urges and anywhere you walk, destruction will occur to those most vulnerable."

At that sentencing hearing, several of Nassar's victims testified, including Rachael Denhollander, who in 2016 was the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual misconduct and inappropriate touching during his exams.

During her testimony, Denhollander asked for the maximum sentence be given to Nassar. "How much is a little girl worth? How much is a woman worth?" she told the judge. She called Nassar the "most dangerous type of abuser."

Denhollander also put blame on Michigan State University officials, including President Lou Anna Simons, and coaches and trainers at USA Gymnastics and Michigan for not acting on complaints from her and other gymnasts.

While the allegations of the sexual assaults date back to 1997, it was Denhollander's accusations that led to a proper investigation into Nassar and his eventual conviction.

In response to Denhollander's testimony, Aquilina said that it was Denhollander who started the "tidal wave" that led to the conviction of Nassar. "Your words have grace and great hope for a better future in the world for all women and for all surviviors," Aquilina said.

Prior to Aquilina's sentence, Nassar apologized to the victims, saying, their testimony during his sentencing hearing had "shaken" him to his core.

"There are no words for how sorry I am," Nassar said. "I will carry your words with me for the rest of my days."

Aquilina, however, dismissed his apology.

"You can't give them back their innocence," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jeff Stacklin contributed reporting.