Informing Larry Nassar that she had just signed his death warrant, Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina told the disgraced sports medicine doctor that he was sentenced to a term of incarceration between 40 years and 175 years. The sentence essentially seals Nassar’s fate and assures the public that Nassar will never see the outside of a prison.
Nassar pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sexual assault against girls and young women, including Olympians.
In 2015, USA Gymnastics – the sport’s top governing body – quietly cut ties with Nassar over allegations about his professional care.
An investigation in 2014 resulted in a three-month suspension from MSU, then his workplace.
But he continued to see patients until he was publicly accused of abuse in a 2016 report by the Indianapolis Star newspaper.
Immediately after the sentencing, Michigan State University president Lou Anna Simon resigned from office in the midst of a cascade of criticism in the Nassar affair.
Spectators and victims cried, applauded and embraced as Nassar, 54, wearing a dark blue jailhouse jumpsuit, was led out of the courtroom. Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse him in 2016, shared a hug with Angela Povilaitis, the lead prosecutor.
Nassar, who served as the program’s physician through four Olympic Games, apologized to his victims during the hearing, telling them, “I will carry your words with me for the rest of my days.”
Aquilina dismissed his statement as insincere and courtroom spectators gasped as the judge read aloud from a letter he wrote to her claiming he was a good doctor who was manipulated into pleading guilty.
Nassar, who already is serving a 60-year sentence in federal prison for child pornography convictions, also said his accusers fabricated claims to gain money and fame, writing, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
Fittingly, there is individual and institutional consequences for bad behavior in this case. The sentence Nassar received was warranted and Simon’s resignation was proper. An argument could be made that Simon and Michigan State officials got off easy. The crime of sexual abuse is so great, society must punish offenders and institutions that protect them. A just and civil society cannot tolerate those who would prey on the innocent, young, and unsuspecting. We have a duty to protect them at all costs.