Nassar Sentencing: Victims' Dad Lunges At Ex-Gymnastics Doctor

CHARLOTTE, MI — The sentencing of Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State University and USA gymnastics sports doctor accused of sexual molestation by hundreds of girls and women, took a dramatic turn Friday when the father of three of his victims lunged at him and asked the judge to grant him five minutes "in a locked room with this demon.”

“Let me at him,” Randall Margraves shouted as police quickly tackled him before taking him from the Eaton County Circuit Court hearing in handcuffs. “Give me one minute with that bastard!”

The confrontation occurred after Margraves’ daughter, Lauren, testified that Nassar had sexually abused her when she was 13. Another of his daughters also testified that Nassar had sexually abused her. She said her parents were that her parents were "filled with regret" because they took the girls to see Nassar.

"I see the look in their faces and I know they want to be able to do something but they can't," Lauren Marsgraves told Nassar. "The guilt they have will never go away. All this is because of you."

She told the court that as a result of Nassar’s sexual abuse, the “last year and a half of my life has been a crazy whirlwind and there’s no reason it should have been that way,” The Detroit News reported.

After he was removed from the courtroom, Randall Margraves returned a few hours later and apologized to Eaton County Judge Janice K. Cunningham, who said there was "no way" she would punish him under her contempt of court powers. Margraves had previously described himself as a "distraught father."

Assistant Attorney General Angela Povilaitis told families in the courtroom to "use your words," not violence.

"This is letting him have this power over us," she said. "We cannot behave like this. I understand this is a remarkable situation. But you cannot do this. This is not helping your children. This is not helping your community. This is not helping us."

More victims are testifying in Nassar’s second sentencing hearing on state of Michigan charges that he sexually abused gymnasts under the guise of “medically necessary” treatment. Last week, Nassar was sentenced in Ingham County to up to 175 years in prison at the end of a seven-day sentencing hearing when more than 150 girls and young women provided victim impact statements.

Between the cases in Ingham and Eaton counties, 265 women and girls have said they were assaulted by Nassar. He was previously sentenced to 60 years on federal pornography charges.

At the start of the Friday’s proceedings, Cunningham said Nassar had “disavowed” statements his attorney, Shannon Smith, made earlier to the media that she has doubts he sexually abused all the girls and young women that testified during this sentencing hearing last week. Smith went as far as to say the doctor's treatments were legitimate.

Nassar was unaware Smith planned to make those statements and didn’t authorize them, Cunningham said.

"It's unfortunate that those statements were made during the course of this sentencing procedure," the judge said. "They are not relevant to the sentencing procedure nor is the opinion of Ms. Smith since her statements were not made on behalf of Mr. Nassar."

In the current sentencing hearing, prosecutors have asked for an additional 40 to 125 years in prison for three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. At least 65 women are expected to testify before sentencing is pronounced. The charges focus on his work with Twistars, an elite Michigan gymnastics club. The judge resumed the hearing after about 25 minutes.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

Video via CBS News; file photo by Carlos Osorio/Associated Press