Getty Larry Nassar
Once an esteemed and highly regarded doctor with USA Gymnastics, Larry Nassar is now an inmate in 2021 who will likely spend his life behind bars for decades of abuse against hundreds of gymnastic athletes.
Nassar was a physician for the USA Gymnastics team and the Michigan State University, and his reputation allowed him to groom and sexually abuse hundreds of athletes, spanning decades and national borders. He abused girls in London at the 2012 Olympics, the Károlyi Ranch, the USA Gymnastics’ training centre in Texas and at gymnastics meets in Rotterdam. Survivors of his abuse went onto became Olympic medalists and household names: Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney. Read more about the cover-up and former USA Gymnastics CEO Steve Penny here. He is still awaiting trial in 2021. Those watching the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo wondered about the state of USA Gymnastics and the women’s gymnastics team, and looked for an update on Nassar.
“Athlete A,” a Netflix documentary, details the investigation into Nassar and decades of sexual abuse revealed at through his court proceedings. In addition, the documentary dives into systemic cover-ups and delays in reporting the abuse by USA gymnastics and Michigan State University. “Athlete A” aired on Netflix Wednesday, June 24, 2020, and was trending again in February 2021 as more viewers discovered the documentary. Read more about Athlete A, Maggie Nichols, here. John Geddert, who coached the 2012 US Olympic women’s gymnastics team, was found dead February 24, 2021 after he was charged with 24 felonies in connection with the abuse of young gymnasts, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced. Geddert was 63.
Here’s what you need to know:
Larry Nassar Is Jailed in a Federal Prison Near Orlando, Florida Where He Was Transferred After He Was Assaulted
Larry Nassar, now 56, is incarcerated at the USP Coleman II, a high-security federal penitentiary in Sumterville, Florida, according to his prison records.
USP Coleman II is located in central Florida and houses 1,0237 male inmates, the prison website says. A handbook given to inmates details their rules and procedures, and sums up what Nassar’s life is like today. You can read the handbook in full here.
“The Federal Correctional Complex, Coleman, Florida, consists of five separate facilities: central administration building, two high security penitentiaries, a medium security institution with a satellite camp, and a low security institution. Each facility operates under the direction of its respective Warden. However, the Wardens and Deputy Wardens act in conjunction when making decisions which affect the overall Complex,” the handbook says.
Here is his prison record:
Federal Bureau of PrisonsLarry Nassar’s prison record
Nassar was transferred to the Florida prison from an Arizona prison because he was assaulted within hours of entering the general population, according to The Washington Post.
A former inmate described Coleman as “a so-called special-needs prison — a ‘safe’ facility where informants, former cops, ex-gang members, check-ins (prisoners who intentionally put themselves in solitary confinement to be safe), homosexuals and sex offenders can all, supposedly, walk the yard freely.” The former inmate said that at most facilities, “these types of men are in danger of being beaten, stabbed or strangled to death,” The Washington Post reported.
Judge Rosemarie Aquilina Told Larry Nassar ‘I Just Signed Your Death Warrant’ When Imposing His Prison Sentence
Dr. Larry Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison in 2018 following convictions for sexually abusing athletes for decades. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina opened her courtroom to survivors of Nassar’s abuse, which included many well-known USA Gymnastics athletes. Survivors’ testimony lasted seven days. He was 54 at the time of the sentence.
“I just signed your death warrant,” Aquilina told Nassar, according to The New York Times.
The outspoken judge read excerpts of a letter Nassar submitted to the court, which included complaints about his treatment in a separate child pornography case. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison in that case. Nassar was accused of abusing girls as young as 6, molesting them under the guise of giving them medical treatment.
“This letter tells me you have not yet owned what you did,” she said. “You still think somehow you are right, you’re a doctor, that you’re entitled, so you don’t have to listen. That you did ‘treatment.’ I wouldn’t send my dogs to you, sir.”
Last week, more than 120 survivors of sexual abuse by Nassar called for the Justice Department to release its inspector general’s report into the FBI’s handling of the USA Gymnastics sexual abuse scandal, NBC reported. The request came five years to the date after the abuse was first reported. Questions remain about systemic failures that allowed Nassar to abuse girls over decades.
“It’s easy to put out statements talking about how athlete care is the highest priority. But [USA Gymnastics] has been saying that for years, and all the while, this nightmare was happening,” Aly Raisman said in court, according to The Guardian.
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