Olympic Gymnastics Doc Faces Sexual Assault Accusers: Video

MASON, MI — Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State University sports doctor and Team USA gymnastics physician dozens of women and girls have accused of sexually assaulting them under the guise of treatment for injuries, was confronted by three of them in a court hearing Friday. Among them was Rachael Denhollander, a married mother of three and attorney who last year publicly accused Nassar of molesting her when she was 15, opening a floodgate that gave as many as 100 women and girls the courage to step forward.

Nassar, 53, appeared in 55th District Court near Lansing Friday for a preliminary hearing on 15 counts of first-degree criminal sexual assault. He faces multiple counts of criminal charges in other state and federal courts, including federal pornography charges, and could go to prison for life if convicted. He is also named in civil lawsuits filed by about 100 women and girls, was fired by Michigan State University last year, left the USA Gymnastics with little notice before the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games and had his medical license revoked by the state of Michigan last month. Michigan State University Police are investigating about 100 complaints against Nassar.

With Nassar sitting feet away in a gray and white striped prison jumpsuit, Denhollander, now 32, offered graphic testimony about her encounters with Nassar in treatments that began in 2000.

She told the court the sports doctor penetrated her vaginally and anally with his ungloved fingers, touched her clitoris and fondled her breasts. In one instance, the former Kalamazoo resident who now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, said her mother was in the room, but Nassar positioned himself in a way that she could not see what was happening.

She did not confront Nassar or tell her mother what had happened. She said she was afraid she would be silenced or that no one would believe her.

“I froze; I couldn’t,” she testified. “I didn’t know how to reconcile who he was supposed to be with what he had done and I didn’t want to give it words. Words make it real.

“He was the the national team physician, he was this nationally revered doctor that MSU held out,” Denhollander said. “It was clearly something he did very regularly. Again, his movements were very rehearsed, he was very confident. I was not a test case.”

Denhollander said Nassar was shielded by his national stature, The Detroit News reported. He had traveled to Olympic Games with four teams.

“Larry Nassar was a pillar of the community,” said Denhollander, who first told her story to the Indianapolis Star in an explosive report over USA Gymnastics’ handling of sexual abuse allegations, including those by a member of the 2000 U.S. women’s Olympics gymnastics team.

“He had been sexually abusing women for 17 years, by my count, and had never been held accountable … (but) this is bigger than Larry Nassar,” she testified.

Denhollander, who described Nassar’s conduct as “brazen,” said she began to suspect during her second treatment that Nassar was sexually abusing her. On her fifth treatment, he was visibly aroused when he touched her breast, she testified.

“He had an erection,” she said. “His cheeks were flushed, his eyes were closed ... I was sexually assaulted.”

Previously Reported

• Former Olympic Gymnasts Name MSU Doctor in Sex Abuse Complaints
• MSU Fires Doctor Accused in Olympic Gymnast Sex Abuse Scandal
• Ex-MSU Doctor in Olympic Sexual Abuse Scandal Charged
• 13 Women, Girls to Sue MSU Over Doc’s Alleged Assaults
• Feds Arrest Ex-MSU Doc on Child Porn Charges
• More Sexual Assault Charges Against Former USA Gymnastics Doc
• Latest Larry Nassar Accuser Recalls Abuse As 13-Year-Old Gymnast

The other woman and girl who testified offered similar stories. They chose not to be publicly identified.

The minor girl said that she “felt yucky” after Nassar examined and penetrated her with his fingers, and that she cried the entire way home.

“I had never been touched in that area as a 13-year-old,” she testified.

A 22-year-old woman who trained and competed with the Michigan Twistars USA Gymnastics Club in Lansing said Nassar began abusing her when she was 13, according to a report by NBC News. She talked with other gymnasts “about how uncomfortable it was and we really didn’t like it and it didn’t help, but it happened to all of us, so we thought it was normal.”

Denhollander had testified “our presumption was that if he was not doing something legitimate someone would have stopped him.”

Four other alleged victims are expected to testify in the preliminary hearing to determine if Nassar should stand trial. The hearing has been continued until May 26. If necessary, another session will be held June 23.

Three of the witnesses are minors, one just turned 18 and three are adult women.

Nassar has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Photo: Larry Nassar at his video arraignment on criminal sexual abuse charges. (AP Photo/David Eggert)