GettyLarry Nassar, the disgraced former USA Gymnastics national team sports doctor who pleaded guilty to sexual assault and child pornography charges, has reportedly been attacked while in prison.
Nassar was assaulted by inmates at the Arizona penitentiary where he is serving a life sentence.
According to court documents filed by his attorneys, Nassar was ‘physically attacked’ within hours of being released into the general population at the prison in Tucson, NBC reports.
The 54-year-old is currently serving a 60-year federal sentence for possessing child pornography. He was also sentenced to up to 175 years in state prison for molesting a number of girls.
Nassar has also been accused of molesting and abusing over two hundred girls and women over twenty years under the guise of medical treatment.
During the trial, 156 women came forward to testify against the doctor in court, choosing to speak without anonymity and sharing strikingly similar stories of assault and sexual abuse.
GettyNassar’s attorneys are asking for him to be re-sentenced by a different judge in the first of the molestation cases he faces as they believe the judge, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, had decided to impose the maximum sentence possible before the hearing even started.
During the trial, the judge told Nassar he’ll be left ‘in darkness for the rest of his life’ as he will die in jail, adding:
As much as it was my honour and privilege to hear the sister survivors, it was my honour and privilege to sentence you.
Because, sir, you do not deserve to walk outside of a prison ever again.
As the judge finished reading his sentence, witnesses stood up in the courtroom to applaud her verdict.
One of the gymnasts who Nassar assaulted, Aly Raisman, brought her abuser to tears in a powerful speech she gave in court.
Raisman, along with other gymnasts, testified on the crimes committed by Nassar as they grew up in the USA gymnastics team and were assaulted by Nassar in his position as doctor.
PAHer impassioned speech drew a round of applause in the court room and brought Nassar to tears by calling out his crimes, as well as highlighting the systemic failings which allowed Nassar’s abuse to take place.
She said:
Larry, you do realise that we, this group of women you so heartlessly abused over such a long period of time, are now a force, and you are nothing.
She paused at this point, to let the weight of her words sink in, before continuing:
The tables have turned, Larry. We are here, we have our voices and we are not going anywhere.
Larry, you abused the power and trust I and so many others placed in you, and I am not sure I will ever come to terms with how horribly you manipulated and violated me.
I am here to face you Larry, so you can see I’ve regained my strength. That I am no longer a victim. I am a survivor.
I’m no longer that little girl you met in Australia who you first began grooming and manipulating.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence contact the Rape Crisis England and Wales helpline on 0808 802 9999 (12-2:30 and 7-9:30). They also offer a victim support line on 0808 168 9111.
Male Survivors Partnership is available to support adult male survivors of sexual abuse and rape. You can contact the organisation on its website or on its helpline – 0808 800 5005.
Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.