-(CHEERING) -ANNOUNCER: As she came here
to Boston to compete in the Olympic Trials,
she did so on a bad right leg.
(AUDIENCE GASPS)
-GYMNAST: It's bad. (SOBS) -TRAINER: Okay.
-(GYMNAST SOBS) -TRAINER: All right.
(SOBS)
LARRY NASSAR: You okay? It's that knee?
-TRAINER: That's okay. -NASSAR: Um, no. Debbie--
We're gonna get her into the back room.
-Okay? -GYMNAST: No, no.
MAN: No, no, no. GYMNAST: No.
NASSAR: Hold on. They're going to start
-getting her to the-- -MAN 2: Stand up for us. -GYMNAST: Yeah.
NASSAR: Yep. Okay. Got here there? And up.
-MAN: Are you okay? Okay? -(AUDIENCE CHEERS)
-ANNOUNCER: This is gutsy stuff. -(AUDIENCE CHEERING FADES)
NASSAR: (VOICE RECORDING)
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYS) ♪
USA Gymnastics,
the number one team in the world.
(CROWD CHEERING)
LYNDSY GAMET: There's a whole institution of people
who knew through these years.
ANNOUNCER: Get the gold medals ready!
(CHEERING)
ISABELL HUTCHINS: I don't know how anyone couldn't have known.
(CHEERING)
KYM WILLIAMS: Who goes to their doctor's basement?
ANNOUNCER 2: There's a lot on the line.
DOMINIQUE MOCEANU: Why on Earth did they not report him then?
REBECCA DAVIS O'BRIEN: You know, there are many missed opportunities.
MARCI HAMILTON: They knew they needed a better system,
and they sat on their hands.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN: This is probably the darkest stain
in U.S. Olympic history.
-Wow. -You're strong. You're strong.
What have you done?
♪ (MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
(MOVIE PROJECTOR WHIRS)
TRINEA GONCZAR: Gymnastics is kind of an interesting sport.
You either are or you aren't one.
You know, they'll tell you right away if you're--
if you're going to go to the next level.
They can see it in you, the way you jump, the way you move.
I just always was one.
KATHY JOHNSON: I was perfectly suited for gymnastics.
I was tiny, strong, fearless, loved flying,
loved-- little daredevil.
It's... the most amazing feeling to be able to propel your body
through the air and flip around and stick it.
It is flying.
The feeling of having power, that's, like,
a lot of people don't talk about
is, like, the flying thing comes after the power
and feeling that, like, command over your body
and doing stuff that regular people can't do.
ANNOUNCER 3: Now watch this. Watch this.
Back sommy right to the other bar.
ANNOUNCER 4: Has that been done before by a girl?
ANNOUNCER 3: Never! Never, not by any human that I know of.
MIKE JACKI: Olga in '72, the American public,
they were flabbergasted by what she was able to do.
They were enamored by it.
♪ (CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS) ♪
ANNOUNCER 3: Isn't that something?
I think the American culture is infatuated with gymnastics
because every four years, you see these little, strong,
wonderful, talented,
amazing athletes pop out on the big stage.
(CHEERING)
JULIET MACUR: I don't think that any other Olympic sport
in the summertime really gets as many viewers,
just because it has everything.
It has the beauty, it has the power,
and the music, and the drama of it.
-(CHEERING) -ANNOUNCER 5: And what a champion!
Absolutely superb performance.
ANNOUNCER 6: Faultless. Absolutely faultless.
(CHEERING)
A 10 has gone on the board. That's perfection,
and that is Olympic history for Nadia Comaneci.
MOCEANU: Wanting that Olympic dream,
wanting to be the best in the world,
you go and you train so hard day in and day out.
No matter how bad people are treating you,
you go back for more. You know? You go back for more
because you want that dream.
It's-- it's burning inside of you.
GONCZAR: Elite Olympic gymnasts are typically, like, 15, 16,
seventeen years old, the peak of their sport.
So, you have to start young to get good
to be still young and be the best.
MACUR: I think that a lot of people think it's easy
because they're so cute
and they're so bouncy and smiley.
But really, I don't think there's a sport that's harder
in terms of the age where they expect to excel
and the demands that the coaches put on them.
I think it's mentally difficult
and one of the most physically demanding sports.
DAWN HOMER: You're going to get hurt,
and you're not going to complain.
It did not matter what happened to you. You were not to cry.
There were things like when they would be racked.
Racking is just like a torture to these girls.
It's trying to force them down into splits,
and you've got such adult pressure being put
on these little girls,
And they are not to cry. They are not to yell out.
But yet, you know they're in so much pain,
but they just do it without complaint.
This is the tricky part about our sport.
To be great...
takes so much energy, focus,
intense training... training through fatigue,
sometimes injury, as long as it's...
not an injury that's going to be dangerous or debilitating.
But sometimes things are-- everything hurts.
That's-- that's the whole thing about being a great gymnast.
It's almost like being a wounded animal.
You don't show your weakness. You don't show that you're hurt.
COACH: Same position.
Ah.
JESSICA O'BEIRNE: Gymnastics is not a sport with a lot of...
back and forth communication.
It's a lot of... soldier, learning how to be a soldier.
O'BRIEN: These women have to perform
so that USA Gymnastics brings in sponsorships
so that US Olympic Committee can be proud of them
and trot them out every four years for all of us
to watch so that NBC viewers can--
you know it's a money machine. And at the heart of it
are teenage girls and their bodies.
It seems like a... arrangement that's bound to create abuse.
The former team doctor for USA Gymnastics
for twenty years is facing dozens of accusations
of sexual abuse including one from a former Olympian.
REPORTER: One of the women has filed a criminal complaint
against Nassar with Michigan police.
The other has filed a lawsuit in California.
Former Michigan State University and Team USA Gymnastics doctor,
Larry Nassar, has been arrested.
O'BEIRNE: When I first heard about Nassar,
I was completely shocked,
and then I totally wasn't shocked at all
because he's in exactly the position
to get away with this.
Like, if you were a child predator,
you would become him. It's so perfect.
MACUR: Larry Nassar was a doctor for USA Gymnastics
for more than twenty years.
He had worked with Michigan State
for just as long.
SCOTT REID: He was a physician at Michigan State University,
and then he would be called into camps,
these periodic-- these monthly camps
for the women's national team.
And then World Championships, major international
national team events, he'd be right there.
MACUR: His contract with Michigan State said
you have to also do outreach in the community.
So, he also worked with high schools
and local gyms.
So, literally, he had his hands on hundreds of children
every year for many years.
HOMER: When Trinea became a level five,
we were all invited to a big meeting.
And in the meeting, they said, "100 percent
of your children will be injured."
And then I remember being introduced
to Larry as a trainer.
And I thought, "Oh good, there's a safety net.
If they get injured, there's a trainer."
I felt we were lucky to have Larry.
He was seen as...
like the guardian angel of the gymnasts.
He was all about, you know, protecting the athletes.
And that's not something we often hear in the elite space.
NASSAR: (RECORDING) Not just physically,
but mentally, you have to protect your athletes.
You have to let them know that we care. You have to--
not let them know, but let them feel it,
let them understand it, let them breathe it.
It's-- it's there. You know?
It's not just a pat on the back.
You know what I mean? It has to be sincere that we care.
Larry Nassar was the good guy in this whole web of people
you have to deal with-- with gymnastics.
How could a gymnast not say, "Wow, this guy's so nice to me?
Everybody else is so mean. They want me to--
to do an extra routine, or my leg hurts
and they want me to keep running or something."
He was brilliant at fooling these girls into trusting him.
And... and I don't know how he got
the Károlyis to turn their backs,
or maybe he did it behind their back.
I'm not sure how much the Károlyis knew.
I don't know for sure if they knew about him.
Did they know that he was alone with gymnasts? Yes.
Should they have known that was against a policy,
that there were policies and procedures in place
and he was violating them? Yes.
Did they care? No.
That gold medal gymnastics coach, Béla Károlyi,
has yet another winner on his hands.
REPORTER 2: Béla Károlyi is the gymnastics coach
who brought Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton
to Olympic fame.
I'm not concerning about anything else
than to be the winner, to win.
And I love to win. (LAUGHS) That's the truth.
Stronger, stronger, stronger, stronger. Round it. In. There.
(BÉLA KÁROLYI INSTRUCTING INDISTINCTLY)
Hit it. And up. That's not good.
You're not doing the right thing.
Hold that. (CONTINUES INSTRUCTIONS IN ROMANIAN)
MACUR: Béla and Márta Károlyi are the most famous coaches
in gymnastics history.
REID: Béla Károlyi was the architect
of the Romanian dynasty.
In the late '70s, Béla comes around
with Nadia Comaneci and others and becomes
the premiere global superpower in gymnastics.
At the time, the gymnasts were mostly over 20 years old.
It was really a women's sport.
GEZA POZSAR: Béla and Márta changed the concept
of gymnastics to train very young children,
very intensive training from six years old.
MOCEANU: He had this philosophy. Do enough repetition,
and you stay prepubescent and you don't gain weight,
you're going to get those girls to hit.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYS) ♪
REID: These monthly camps at the Károlyi Ranch in Texas
were a huge factor in creating this culture
that created Larry Nassar.
So, the Károlyi Ranch is located
near this little town called New Waverly, Texas,
like a filling station, as they call them in Texas,
and I think-- I don't even know if they have a stoplight.
You get off the freeway and then you-- you're actually
in the Sam Houston National Forest,
and you're going down this red dirt road
deeper and deeper into this forest.
It's like straight out of a movie.
And you finally come upon this compound of a gym
and a couple-- a house, and like a dorm.
There's snakes everywhere, and bugs,
and it's hotter than hell.
And it's just this Texan nightmare.
O'BEIRNE: The way that the Károlyis implemented the system was,
"We don't want you to lose focus.
We want you 100 percent focused on gymnastics.
Bond with your team. That's it."
JACKI: No phones, no internet...
Very controlled. They had things that
were written to the athletes that said
while you were at the ranch,
you could not go to your personal coach.
Or your parents.
Now, is that a little bit weird?
You say to somebody, "You can't go to your parents?"
REID: One of the main themes about the Károlyi philosophy
is athletic Darwinism.
There are so many kids out there,
the U.S. is so deep now,
that if you can't hold up physically,
or if you can't handle it mentally,
well, there's somebody dying to get in here
who will pay the price.
So, they knew they could push these kids hard, hard, hard.
This kind of, like, brutal, "Do a lot of numbers,
as many numbers as possible till you do it,
doesn't matter if you're falling flat on your back
five, ten, fifteen, twenty times.
Doesn't matter if you're injured.
You-- you better not speak up," was the whole mentality
in the environment. You'd better not or else
we're going to take your Olympic dream away.
REID: You're beat up. You have coaches screaming at you,
bullying you into doing stuff that you're not
either ready to do or you're too tired to do.
So, you're put in dangerous situations.
Nassar was the guy-- he was the positive guy.
He's the guy who snuck them food, gave them candy,
let them borrow a cell phone.
I mean, you talk to all these women
who were on the national team who were abused by him,
they said, "You know, he was our friend.
If Larry's doing this, it must be okay because he--
he's our friend. He's, like, the one guy we trusted.
INTERVIEWER: What was your impression of Larry Nassar?
Well, was a great guy. I mean,
I ask him to help my gymnasts from my gym.
I called him at nighttime and next day, he helped me,
uh, send me the X-ray. You know? He didn't ask for any payment.
When you're around sports for a long time,
you see team doctors, and...
Nassar always kinda struck me as a little bit different
from guys in that position in other sports.
He kinda seemed not quite up to speed.
He's kind of a dopey guy along for the ride.
The thing about USA Gymnastics, for all their global success,
it's kind of a small-time operation.
The people there are there because the Károlyis' blessing
that they're not gonna rock the boat.
MOCEANU: Márta liked that Nassar
would toe the company line.
He would tell them exactly what they want to hear.
There were girls that got injured, and...
you wanna get a gymnast back? Sure, we can get her back.
He would just kind of play the game
because he wanted the access.
He had access to these kids pretty much around the clock.
He was doing this all kinds of places,
in dorm rooms at the Károlyi Ranch,
in dorm rooms at the Sydney Olympics,
you know, hotel rooms, wherever.
NASSAR: The view from the hotel room
where we're staying at.
At nighttime, "the City of Lights," they call this.
Just got back from training.
MACUR: It's hard for me to even fathom the fact that,
you know, we'd see these gymnasts at these Olympics,
and they're interviewing with us, saying,
"Oh, well, I just came back from treatment."
Looking back now, my gosh, these girls were coming
to talk to us right after they were abused by this doctor
who's, like, always smiley and, you know, uh,
looked like, oh, everybody's best friend,
giving people gifts. He was so sweet.
I mean, it's-- it's, like, Sexual Abuse 101.
NASSAR: Grab that. Okay. Come back with your back hand,
wrap it around. Got it. Come around.
Pull down. There you go.
Grab with your other hand and pull up.
So, the athlete can do this themselves.
The athlete can learn to do the Kinesio Tape themselves too.
Because it's in a sensitive area--
GONCZAR: I find it hard to look at him...
as, like, a criminal,
aside from all of the things he did,
because that's no-- I mean, and I, I don't know.
I don't really know another criminal.
I don't know another serial child molester.
He was so good at being who he was
on the other side of that. Like he was, I mean...
he was awesome. (CHUCKLES) I hate even saying that
'cause it's, like, counter-intuitive of, like,
what the heck's happening to us. But...
he was awesome. (CHUCKLES) That's why we all loved him.
I would have considered him a friend.
Uh, it's very, like when I first heard about it,
my immediate reaction wasn't, "That's impossible."
My immediate reaction was, "Please don't let it be true,"
because this is a man that I trusted.
We would sit and talk for hours, and he would tell me
about what a great philosophy I had and how he loved
how I protected children and um, you know, all of this stuff
that just makes me look back and go,
"God, what a master manipulator he was."
He was a typical serial pedophile.
Charming, powerful...
He was able to pull the wool over all of the adults' faces.
What do you look for in a child sex abuser?
And the answer is, the nice guy.
It's kind of easy for them
because they find places where it is easy.
A priest, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi,
a coach, a doctor for the gymnastics team.
MICK GREWAL: These girls adored him and trusted him,
and that's not just gymnasts.
Larry Nassar saw anybody who had a complaint:
gymnasts, rowers, cheerleaders, dancers.
He lived three miles from me in Holt, Michigan.
It was just like a normal suburb neighborhood.
He was a personable, God-fearing Catholic man.
KRISTEN THELEN: He was so involved in the community.
He volunteered at the church.
He volunteered at the high schools.
He was almost everywhere we went, always smiling,
charismatic...
overly involved in our lives.
GAMET: I was 14, and I wanted to be a doctor,
so Larry brought me to Take Your Daughter to Work Day.
We had each other's phone numbers.
I would text him almost daily.
We were friends on Facebook. He'd post on my wall.
MELODY POSTHUMA: He shared his Instagram,
so I knew his children's names and faces, and his wife.
He'd ask about your personal life.
He knew about my friendships.
He knew what classes I was taking,
where I wanted to go to college.
He was a friend, a confidant, at one time.
Nassar was extremely well liked, but he was also... admired
as someone who was doing amazing things
for female gymnasts.
Thank you for visiting GymnasticsDoctor.com,
where you can see over 400 educational videos
on how to rehabilitate your gymnast.
So, with a weak glute medius muscle,
this drops down,
the foot rolls, and she's got the--
the weakness in the-- in the hip area here.
Come off your toes and come back,
all in one motion. Toes, arms, go.
THELEN: Every appointment, he would
have his hands all over me,
adjusting me, massaging my back.
And what some people might not understand,
that this is a really big part of gymnastics
that he took advantage of,
that we're used to having adults spotting us, helping us stretch.
We're used to having adults touch us.
But Larry took it a step further.
He explained to my mom, "I'm going to put my hands
near a very private place on your daughter."
He didn't ask. He just said that that's what he was going to do.
Larry Nassar pretty much had a-- a primary method.
You would come to him and, "I have a backache.
I have a hip problem."
He would stick his ungloved...
unlubricated hand in your vaginal cavity
and do what he called "a vaginal adjustment."
And it was, like, this catchall treatment.
You know, stuff that was nowhere near your pelvic area,
this was like, "This'll make it better."
JESSICA ANN SMITH: He told me that
I would probably be uncomfortable
and kind of explained that in the vagina,
there's a trigger point, or pressure point,
that would release to help him work on my ankle
to be less painful.
In my case, I wasn't given a heads up
or any kind of explanation about the procedure.
I think he just said, "Tell me if this hurts."
Like, which it did,
but everything that he was doing hurt.
He was doing, like, pressure points
and manipulations and, like,
pushing on my muscles with his elbows.
Um. I was pretty used to just, like...
buckling down and taking whatever pain.
You're always told by coaches, teachers, "No pain, no gain."
So, when something's painful,
you're thinking, "This is helping me,
and I'm getting better because of it."
I remember being like,
"Can I survive this for another two minutes?"
Watching the clock on my phone,
waiting for five minutes to go past,
ten minutes to go past, up to 45 minutes or an hour.
So, his appointments would be two hours long.
My analysis is, an hour was medical, professional,
and then the second half was sexual.
Trying to remember back, you know, to these "treatments"
and thinking back, and I'm like, "How the heck didn't any, like--
how did he do that?" And then I'm like,
"I don't think there was a silent moment."
I mean, I don't think he ever stopped talking.
"What's happening today? How's, you know, your family?
Oh Dawn, how's things going with the kids?"
HOMER: Mother of three daughters.
My goal was to keep them safe.
And then I became an accomplice in such a crazy world.
I mean, he would talk to the parents
while he was doing this.
And so, it-- it was confusing.
The first time, specifically? Um, well, my dad was in the room
and I just...
like, first I was like, "What?"
Like, "Is this normal? Like, "What is going on?"
And then... a f-- a little bit...
of thinking about it, I was like...
"Okay, well, my dad's on the other side of the room,
so maybe it's normal." Then I'm like,
"But does he know what's happening?
I don't know if he does. Well, how do I ask about this?
I can't ask about this." And then, then you think,
"Well, he's a doctor."
I didn't think that it happened to her
because... I had no idea. Like, I was there.
I thought I saw everything.
She was with me at every single appointment.
INTERVIEWER: Was your mom always with you?
Yeah, she was always in the room with me.
Having your own parent there, and...
he's still able to manage
to get away with what he did,
even with someone else in the room,
that-- that's really scary.
This is a grooming behavior.
The parent's sitting there. The child's watching the parent.
The child doesn't want to tell the parent this is going on,
but believes the parent must know
because it's happening right in front of them,
so it's okay. So, guess what happens later on?
Parent doesn't come into the next session,
and instead of it being a two-minute procedure,
it ends up being a 45-minute procedure.
The young girl thinks it's okay
'cause Mom and Dad were sitting in the room before.
I noticed that what he was doing was getting more aggressive
as I got older, and when I could drive myself,
then no parent was in the room, so then it really amped up.
He would bring us to his house, to the basement.
WILLIAMS: When I heard two months ago
that Taylor was treated in his basement,
I almost fell over.
Who goes to their doctor's basement?
He offered free "treatments" to women all the time
in his basement, which I knew about.
So that's why I felt okay going 'cause I,
once again, minimized it. "Everyone else goes there too."
You know, he would get erections.
You know, it's just, something's not right there. (CHUCKLES)
He would take his belt off. He would make grunting noises.
And if we look at it as, as adults, we're like,
"Oh my God, didn't you know?
Of course, this is for a sexual purpose."
But you gotta put your mind--
a young girl who has no sexual experience,
a young girl who's trusting, a young girl who's told
repeatedly over, "This is the Olympic doctor.
He's there to help."
So, these girls, they had no clue.
And then I would feel better after my appointments
'cause like I said, he was doing medical things.
And no one else was helping me get better, so I knew
I had to go back because I needed
to be relieved of my pain.
So even if I hated the treatment, I would go back.
And that's how so many girls were abused for so many years.
INTERVIEWER: How often was that vaginal treatment?
GONCZAR: Probably every time.
I don't remember not having it.
They estimate it happened to me-- estimate--
like, eight-- maybe 846 times.
It's a lot.
The reason Larry was such a good doctor
was because you didn't feel anything afterward,
not just physically. Emotionally, mentally.
You had to block it out. You had to,
or... you're going to fall apart.
GREWAL: These young women didn't know.
Their bodies might have known.
Subconsciously, they might have known.
They thought this was a legitimate medical treatment.
They were told over and over and over again,
"You can trust Larry. Larry says you can trust Larry.
Kathie says you can trust Larry.
John Geddert says you can trust Larry."
INTERVIEWER: Who is John Geddert?
Satan.
He is, uh, the devil, and he, uh,
is the head coach and owner of Twistars.
JOHN GEDDERT: Open the hips.
That's better, feet. Now up, up, up, up.
That's too much forward. Straight. Squeeze it. Shape.
Hold the shape. Press the landing.
Press the landing. Press. No, stay there. Stay.
WILLIAMS: John Geddert, former 2012 Olympic team coach.
When I came to Michigan, very, very, very quickly,
I realized that John was the force,
the name in, certainly, Region 5 gymnastics.
MOCEANU: John Geddert coached Olympic champion Jordyn Wieber,
and he had many other national team members
throughout the years.
He housed Nassar
at his facility in Michigan, Twistars,
where he had unprecedented access
to his gymnasts in the gym.
INTERVIEWER: Like at the Károlyi Ranch?
Very similar environment. Actually, probably even
more access at Geddert's gym.
At the Ranch, it was only whenever
he was able to come in to the monthly camps.
But at Geddert's gym, he could go in every day
if he wanted to.
TAYLOR LIVINGSTON: John especially,
Twistars especially,
sent you to Larry. He came in every Monday,
and he would stay until everyone was seen.
He was very well known at the gym, obviously,
because he was promoted at the gym.
He was pretty much like our go-to doctor.
HOMER: Larry knew how to get them back in their sport.
He knew how to pick them up psychologically,
because the last thing you want to be if you are an athlete
is injured, especially in John Geddert's gym.
WILLIAMS: John Geddert,
super intimidating man, super intimidating.
Um, walks it, owns it, talks it.
How would I describe myself as a coach?
I know how others describe me,
but I think they get the wrong impression.
Um. I'm pretty intense, very caring about my athletes.
Um, I'm not a warm and fuzzy...
um, blow smoke when it's not needed.
I'll give kids their due when they deserve it,
but I'm not gonna unnecessarily tell them
how wonderful they are if they're not being wonderful.
He would use more of a tactic like beating you down.
So, he would belittle you. He would insult you,
call you names,
and you would feel like you weren't good enough.
It was your fault. You were doing things wrong.
At gymnastics meets, if a girl fell,
I would see him turn his back on her
and he wouldn't watch her compete,
or he would-- threw a water bottle at somebody
because they made a mistake on the bars.
And so, you would keep trying harder and harder
to get his approval.
You always wanted John's approval,
and when he gave it to you, it was something special.
(CHEERING)
Kinda, like, the wrong way to do it,
but as long as John got results, he continued his technique,
just break every single girl down
until they thought they were nothing.
And then after practice, you'd go and see Larry.
He'd be there for you, be that person
that you know was going to understand you, and...
for me, he was kind of like a friend that I could go to.
Larry was good and John was bad. (CHUCKLES)
You knew that they were good friends
but I never-- it's weird 'cause like I don't--
they're so different.
Larry's super dorky,
and John was super, like, ego.
But it was almost like the weird perfect fit.
I think that if we were injured, John sent us to Larry
because he would give the shortest amount of time
that could be necessary to come back from our injury.
And there would be no mediator, I guess, in the middle
to be like, "Well maybe she needs this extra few weeks."
If Larry thought you were okay,
then you must not be hurting anymore. You're okay.
INTERVIEWER: That sounds dangerous.
Yeah. Um. I would say so.
HUTCHINS: I started having some shin pain in my leg,
and it started getting worse a couple weeks later.
And so then, I finally said something to John,
and he said, "Well, go see Larry."
So, I saw Larry. He poked and prodded at it, and he says,
"I don't think anything's seriously wrong with it."
Like, "I'll tape it up a little bit,
but you're okay to continue practicing."
I kept practicing for weeks later.
The pain got worse. It felt like I was stabbing it
every time I tumbled. And it got to the point
where I was seeing Larry every day at practice,
and then after practice, I would go to his house
and be in his basement at his house.
INTERVIEWER: How often did he do the "treatment"?
Every time.
And I felt violated, but he's a doctor.
It's got to be for some reason.
Um. So, I just never said anything,
and I just kind of accepted it.
You would think that if your leg wasn't getting better,
you might want to get X-rays on it, but that didn't happen.
Doing all the gymnastics stuff on it,
it was, um, excruciating,
but a prestigious Olympic doctor
is telling you nothing's wrong,
so you kind of think you're crazy.
I mean, it makes you wonder what really is pain.
And the practice before we left for nationals,
I was struggling so hard. And so finally, I was like,
"John, like, I'm trying my hardest
but my leg hurts so bad, I can't make this."
And he told me to get my stuff out of the fucking locker room
and get out of the fucking gym. He means forever.
So, I go to the ER, I get X-rays, and it's broken.
Like, splintered.
It looks like a nail was hammering down on my leg
and it just kept splintering off pieces
because I just kept tumbling on it.
INTERVIEWER: Do you think that you were purposely mistreated by Nassar
in order to keep you in his care?
HUTCHINS: I think it's definitely a possibility.
Why else would I have competed on a broken leg for a month?
Why else wouldn't X-rays have been in the question
if it continued to get worse and not better?
INTERVIEWER: Do you think that John Geddert knew
about Nassar's so called "treatments"...
and that they were not appropriate?
Um... it's hard to say,
but I don't know how anyone couldn't have known,
um, with be--
it being in a room right there in your own gym. You know?
There's no way he didn't know something about Larry.
And even if he thought it was really a treatment
because this guy was supposed to be his best friend
and was supposed to be a doctor, it's such a bizarre thing
that you would hope that he would at least look into it.
And there's no way he didn't hear.
We talked about it openly in the gym.
GAMET: There's a whole institution of people who knew
through these years, and it-- it could have been stopped.
INTERVIEWER: How do you think the abuse could have stopped earlier?
Could have stopped when Kathie was told.
GAMET: Kathie Klages, another friend of John Geddert
and Larry Nassar. She was told in-- in '97.
LARISSA BOYCE: I went to Spartan Youth Gymnastics Club,
and one of the head coaches was Kathie Klages,
MSU's head gymnastics coach.
I had been thinking about...
talking to an adult about these "treatments"
'cause it did make me uncomfortable.
So, Kathie Klages had me come into her office,
and I did specifically tell her
that Larry was putting his fingers inside of me.
And she just said I must be misunderstanding.
He would never do anything inappropriate.
She said she had known him for years and years
and I just must be mistaken.
Kathie did not believe her. So she marched other gymnasts in
to try to dissuade Larissa that this wasn't happening.
She had teammates come in, a couple at a time,
while I was sitting there in her office, in front of me,
and she asked them if Larry had ever done anything
to make them feel uncomfortable during treatments.
And all of them said no, except one other girl.
So, this other girl stayed in the room,
and Kathie still just couldn't wrap her head
around what we were saying.
So, she brought in a couple college-aged gymnasts,
and they would explain, "You know, his hands get close
to certain areas, but they never are inappropriate."
And I again, I said,
"Well, that's not what's happening to me.
His fingers are going inside."
Then at that point, they left the room.
The other girl left the room.
GREWAL: Coach Klages told the other gymnast,
"You're misinterpreting this. I don't want to hear it,"
and basically, shut her up.
But Larissa still stood her ground.
I again said what was happening, and she said,
"Well, I could file this
but there's going to be very serious consequences
for both you and Larry Nassar,
and you need to really think about this."
And I just, I think I raised my hands and said,
"I don't want to get anybody in trouble.
That's not my intention." And so, I went back out
and I think I ran into the bathroom
and just cried for the majority of practice.
GREWAL: She intimidated her, and it shut her down.
Coach Klages then didn't tell her parents,
but she did tell one person.
She told Larry Nassar.
BOYCE: So, my next appointment with Larry, he walked in,
he closed the door, he sat on his little stool,
and he said, "So, I talked to Kathie."
And at that point my heart just sank.
I felt so embarrassed. I felt so humiliated.
He said, "Kathie told me your concerns,
and you know I'm doing this to help you."
And I remember saying, "I'm so sorry.
This is all my fault. It's all a big misunderstanding
and I'm sorry."
So, I just convinced myself that I must be the problem
and I just better suck it up.
And then I hopped back up on that table,
and he continued to abuse me for the next four years.
HAMILTON: Adults prefer and protect adults.
We say we protect children,
but children are second-class citizens.
They don't vote, they don't have power,
and it's so much easier to let a child's needs go.
It's really denial, but it's also...
they're protecting the adult's livelihood.
No one wants to destroy a successful adult's life.
And so, we put it off and we put it off.
Larissa Boyce um, told people who worked for MSU in 1997.
Uh. I was three in 1997.
You know, that's impactful. It could have been stopped.
BOYCE: Kathie Klages knew that there was a proper process
that she should have taken when she told me
that she could file something, but she chose not to.
And so, I absolutely believe that's on MSU.
She was their employee.
And then all of the other girls who came forward
and told trainers or psychiatrists,
all of them were at MSU, MSU employees.
GREWAL: They did not want to believe a single girl.
From 1997 to 2015,
there were 17 incidents of reporting,
just to Michigan State alone.
O'BRIEN: In 2014, Amanda Thomashow,
who had attended Michigan State University,
filed a Title IX complaint against Larry Nassar,
alleging that he had molested her during a treatment session.
AMANDA THOMASHOW: I told them exactly what happened,
that Nassar started to insert his fingers into me
and I pu-- stood up, I pushed him off of me,
and he ran to the corner of the room
to hide his erection.
GREWAL: Michigan State University
investigated through their OIE office,
Office of Institutional Equities,
and they're supposed to be impartial.
In that investigation, they allowed Larry Nassar
to pick four, quote,
"independent corroborating experts"
of his so-called "treatment."
Larry said that it was medical.
I said that it was sexual assault.
And so, they asked some of his friends
what they thought.
GREWAL: Three of the four were his students or colleagues.
One was a trainer. He knew all of them.
He hand-picked all of them with the knowledge
of his supervisor, Dean Strampel.
And what the report finally said was that
the young lady misunderstood the nuances,
and as a result,
they found no violation.
THOMASHOW: They left the erection out of the report.
They also left out the fact that I pushed him off of me.
I was 24. I knew what was and was not appropriate.
They gaslighted me.
So, this is the surprising thing.
Two reports were generated.
There was a report generated, issued to Amanda Thomashow,
and in that report, they say
they find no violation of the Sexual Harassment Policies.
The report ends on page 22.
Lo and behold, here we are in civil litigation.
You know what we find?
(WHISPERS) There's a page 23.
Page 23 goes into all the problems
that potentially are there.
It is opening the university up to a liability,
that they had better have a chaperone in place,
he'd better wear gloves, he'd better have informed consent.
And they never turned that report out for anybody.
That report's internally kept between Larry,
Strampel, and the OIE office.
The three years surrounding my investigation,
my Title IX was the only Title IX
that produced two separate conclusions.
GREWAL: So, Larry Nassar was put on leave 90 days.
That's how long the OIE investigation was.
But in the end, Dean Strampel put it in an email,
"glad to have you back."
"Please, Larry, just follow these restrictions."
Dean Strampel put restrictions on Larry Nassar.
THOMASHOW: Simple rules like explain the procedure,
wear gloves, have somebody else present in the room.
GREWAL: But Dean Strampel, he never followed up.
We've spoken to the support personnel
at the clinical center, who were there after 2014,
who were never informed of these procedures
that Dean Strampel was supposed to inform everybody.
And at the same time, we have a criminal investigation going on
by the Ingham County prosecutor's office.
NASSAR: The patient was concerned
that I was inappropriately touching her
-and didn't understand why. -OFFICER: Okay.
Like, you know, "He was, you know, touching me
in my private areas," you know, and she didn't understand why.
And that's-- those are two things
that confused me because I-- I-- I do this on a regular basis.
-OFFICER: Okay. -This is, this a treatment
that I-- that I lecture on.
I lecture on, not only here at Michigan State
to the fellows and residents and medical students,
but to, um, uh, national organizations.
GREWAL: Shouldn't a prosecuting attorney office
bring in outside experts?
You know whose experts they used?
Michigan State University's,
experts that Larry Nassar hand-picked.
They believed the status of Larry Nassar.
And once again, they also found there was no sexual assault.
And they sent one of the detectives over there
to tell Larry, "Make sure, in the future,
you have somebody in the room, and you wear gloves,
and you explain what's going on."
So, 2014,
you have all these restrictions were put in place.
The assaults should have stopped.
They didn't.
I was a patient of his before, during, and after
that Title IX investigation,
where protocol was put into place,
that I wasn't made aware of, and then not followed.
Nothing changed.
You know, ex-- what happened during the visits
was exactly the same from when she started seeing him
in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015.
INTERVIEWER: When did the incidents happen
-with Larry Nassar? -Um, in 2014.
They didn't have him follow the guidelines,
and they didn't really put a stop to it
until so many people came forward.
GREWAL: Out of 90 of our survivors that we represent,
28 of them were assaulted during or after 2014,
Title IX investigation of Amanda Thomashow.
But this is not just Michigan State University.
It goes to organization that span this country,
USOC, USAG.
INTERVIEWER: Do we know when USAG
knew about Larry Nassar's predilections?
Well, we know for a fact it was 2015.
O'BRIEN: Spring 2015,
Maggie Nichols, gymnast on the U.S. National Team
was at the Károlyi Ranch for one of the monthly training camps.
And she was with Aly Raisman.
And Maggie said out loud,
"What's with this technique he does?
Like why does he put his finger inside me?
I'm not sure it's helping."
And Maggie Nichols's coach happened to be within earshot
and was alarmed by this.
There was a report made to USA Gymnastics.
Steve Penny sat on it for a few weeks.
MOCEANU: USA Gymnastics former president, Steve Penny,
was notified that a gymnast was assaulted
at the national team camp.
Why on Earth did they not report him then?
O'BRIEN: Maggie Nichols's mother was told by Steve Penny,
"Don't do anything. Don't report it.
We're going to handle this internally.
We don't know yet if we need to report this."
They waited for five weeks before they went to the FBI.
Five weeks.
When you have gymnasts telling you that Larry's doing
these manipulations every day, sometimes twice a day,
five weeks is a long time to be sitting on the knowledge
that Larry Nassar is-- is a sexual predator.
O'BEIRNE: They waited five week because they did their own
internal investigation as to whether or not
this was sexual abuse or not.
O'BRIEN: After an internal investigator
told Steve Penny, "You really have a problem here.
You have to go to the FBI,"
Steve Penny called Scott Blackmun,
the chief executive of the US Olympic Committee.
The Olympic Committee legally is responsible for the safety
of the athletes at the Olympics.
And Steve Penny said to Scott Blackman
something to the effect of,
"We have a member of our medical staff
who's been accused of improper contact.
I'm going to report it to the FBI."
Scott Blackmun has said to us that he told Steve Penny,
"Definitely report this,"
-and Steve Penny did. -INTERVIEWER: Is that enough?
I mean, that's a-- that's a question.
Of course, we want to say "no" because of what happened
in the subsequent year. N-- he-- nothing happened.
The USOC had tremendous responsibility as the top
of all of Olympic sports in the United States.
And the USOC has had
inadequate child protection policies for years.
There's been a problem in gymnastics with sexual abuse
and with physical abuse for decades.
O'BRIEN: In 1999,
the then-president of USA Gymnastics, Bob Colarossi,
wrote a letter to the USOC
raising concerns about their method
of handling allegations of abuses by coaches,
saying, the way the system works
is going to get us in trouble.
Scott Blackmun was on that letter.
HAMILTON: They knew it.
They knew they needed a better system,
and they sat on their hands.
GREWAL: Nassar, he actually was allowed to resign
from USA Gymnastics and said he's taking his leave of absence
and thanked them and left on his own terms.
O'BRIEN: But Nassar is back in Michigan,
still treating patients.
He continued to do that for more than a year
after that in Michigan.
Wouldn't USA Gymnastics tell Michigan State University
there's an investigation on? They didn't tell them.
You know, there are many missed opportunities
for people to be informed about this.
And what nobody knew at USA Gymnastics
was that the FBI never inve-- even opened an investigation.
I mean, it went to the FBI in Indianapolis.
The FBI in Indianapolis said, "We're gonna kick this over
to the Detroit office," and then it died there.
The FBI in Indianapolis doesn't seem to have taken
their allegations very seriously.
We also don't know exactly what Steve Penny told them.
GREWAL: MSU, USAG, USOC, Twistars, and the FBI,
all these organizations, they knew.
Every organization had a chance to stop.
O'BEIRNE: All that time, Nassar was still working at MSU.
He was still working for Holt,
the school district that he was working for.
He was treating people nonstop
until Rachael Denhollander came forward.
-NASSAR: Sorry. -ANDREA MUNFORD:
NASSAR:
-MUNFORD: -NASSAR: Yeah.
MUNFORD:
-NASSAR: -MUNFORD:
NASSAR:
MUNFORD:
NASSAR:
MUNFORD: Okay.
MUNFORD: Mm-hmm.
MUNFORD:
NASSAR:
(CHUCKLES)
-MUNFORD: Okay. -NASSAR:
MUNFORD: Right.
-NASSAR: -MUNFORD:
NASSAR:
I was a patient of Dr. Nassar in 2000,
and at age 15, was repeatedly sexually assaulted by him
under the guise of medical treatment
and medical examination.
Rachael Denhollander was not an Olympian, but, um,
an advanced level gymnast, who in the summer of 2016
became the first person
to openly name Larry Nassar as an abuser.
She was inspired to do this by a series that ran
in The Indianapolis Star.
There's a troubling report in USA Today network
and The Indianapolis Star.
The governing body for American gymnastics
is accused of routinely protecting coaches
who are accused of sexually abusing young athletes.
O'BRIEN: Rachael Denhollander read this article,
and she had been, over the years,
coming to terms with this "treatment"
that she had been subjected to
by Larry Nassar more than a decade earlier,
and she reached out to a reporter.
REPORTER 3: Rachael Denhollander
told The Indianapolis Star newspaper
that Nassar sexually assaulted her
when she was 15 years old,
taking part in club gymnastics in Michigan.
O'BRIEN: Ultimately, one other former Olympian spoke
anonymously in the original article
and identified Larry as an abuser.
When someone comes public and puts it in a major newspaper
that this guy, who's employed by your university,
um, sexually abused her,
and you have two people talking about it,
that carries a lot of weight.
Two gymnasts have accused Dr. Larry Nassar
of sexually abusing them during treatment.
REPORTER: One of women has filed a criminal complaint
against Nassar with Michigan Police.
The other has filed a lawsuit in California.
I read the headline, and I laughed in disbelief.
I was like, "There is no way." Like, "He is a saint."
'Cause at that point,
even though I didn't like the treatments,
I really thought that he had
been helping me this whole time.
I actually defended him at first 'cause I knew that--
well, I was told that this was a valid medical procedure
and I was brainwashed and conditioned into b--
to believing that for the past 20 years,
I think, in order to just survive through it.
And so, I defended him.
HOMER: Trinea came home, and we both just said,
"This cannot be." She's like, "There's no way."
It's Larry. It's Larry.
If you know Larry, there's no way it can be Larry."
And it actually made me mad. I was like,
"How dare you accuse such a kind person
of doing such an extremely awful thing?
Um. And I didn't read the article
'cause I was in a dance rehearsal at college.
But then when I was by myself after that rehearsal,
I started reading through the article,
and Rachael Denhollander had it to a tee.
She described my whole experience,
weird commentary, no gloves, internal techniques,
followed by his response that he never went internal, ever.
He would never do that. And I was like,
"His story is very different than my personal experience."
LIVINGSTON: I was so embarrassed
when it first started coming out.
I didn't want to say anything. I was like,
"How did I let this happen? How did I not know?"
The thing is, like, my whole life, like,
I've trained to be smart as I can,
as strong as I can, and as fearless as I can.
And like, in moments like that, where those things happen,
I was none of those things.
And to me, that was, like, soul-crushing.
Over that night, my--
the gears started shifting in my head,
realizing all this time for seven years of my life
that I thought it was medical and helping me--
and I literally walked around praising his name,
referring people to him.
Now I've been referring people to a monster.
GONCZAR: I started to have a heavy guilt about other people
that had come to me when I was younger and saying,
"You know, I'm confused. Something happened to me,
but, you know, do you know anything about this?"
I'm like, "Oh yeah, it happens to me all the time.
He does it to me all the time. You're good.
You don't have to worry. It's not weird.
You're not the only one...
He does it to me all the time. So, you're good."
And then thinking like, "Oh my God,
like, did I just silence these people?
Like, did I stop them from stopping him?"
I did.
INTERVIEWER: That's because you didn't know what it was.
I know. (SOBS) But I still did.
POSTHUMA: I called IndyStar and reported my story.
And so obviously they knew Rachael well,
and I got to talk with Rachael that first day that I found out.
And she really spurred me on to keep going to the next steps.
Things developed pretty quickly.
Rachael Denhollander filed her complaint
at the end of August
and by the end of September,
Larry Nassar had been fired from Michigan State.
REPORTER 4: Michigan State University Police say
about 50 women have now come forward
accusing the former MSU associate professor
of criminal sexual conduct.
Michigan State University Chief of Police, Jim Dunlap,
and I are announcing today criminal charges.
O'BRIEN: In November, he was charged
by the Attorney General in Michigan
on state sex abuse charges related to one victim,
who was not a gymnast he treated.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYS) ♪
POSTHUMA: The first time he got put in jail,
he bailed himself out for a million dollars.
He was a free citizen. He's walking around town,
still trying to be, um, part of the council
for Holt High School. It's dividing the whole town.
I had people I talked to on the phone,
that couldn't even speak because
they were best friends with Nassar's wife.
The Twistars community is behind him 100 percent.
And I have known him before he even went
to medical school. And everything he's ever done
for gymnastics and everything I've ever seen him do
has been nothing but caring and sincere.
There are hundreds of people that support him 100 percent.
We have received countless emails
and communications from other doctors, physicians,
physical therapists, ex-patients,
ex-coworkers supporting him.
There's no doubt he has a ton of support.
I couldn't even go on Facebook because people from my childhood
were saying things against me, essentially.
Just decided to click on the comments.
"Oh, they're lying," or "They're just in it for the money,"
or, "Oh, they should have known that happened."
There's all these weird emotions, you know,
at the beginning of September 2016,
until the porn stuff came out and then everyone silenced.
SIMON SHAYKHET: ...FBI agents saying they found
at least 37,000 thousand images and videos of child pornography
on hard drives belonging to Dr. Larry Nassar.
They were seized during a recent search
of the former MSU doctor's home in Holt.
I represented Dr. Nassar in his criminal matters
in Michigan and in federal court.
I believe law enforcement said there were 37,000
or more than 37,000 images.
It sounds like a high volume to people who are not familiar
with these cases, but in all honestly,
it's not a high volume.
It makes me want to vomit.
Were some of those pictures some of these gymnasts
and some of his patients,
some people that he saw at his house?
Quite possibly so.
I mean, I cared that that was found,
but what I mostly cared about,
that he was in prison without bail.
Bond was revoked and Dr. Nassar was, uh, locked up in jail.
And so, it became more difficult in terms of,
you know, defending.
INTERVIEWER: There was no real way to mount a defense
in the-- with the child porn.
I can't answer that.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYS) ♪
O'BRIEN: There was no more reasonable doubt
about this anymore. And USA Gymnastics
starts realizing this is not going to get better quickly.
The US Olympic Committee's board is recommending
that USA Gymnastics president, Steve Penny, resign.
O'BRIEN: Steve Penny lost his job,
but he got a roughly one-million-dollar payout.
Then fall of 2017 was when the Harvey Weinstein allegations
came out and we were in the full throes
of the "Me Too" movement.
McKayla Maroney, the gold medal Olympic gymnast.
Maroney is now coming forward to say that she was abused
by the former doctor for Team USA.
Olympic gymnast, Aly Raisman, said she is among
the young women sexually abused
by a former physician with USA Gymnastics.
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles
says she was sexually abused
by a former USA Gymnastics team doctor.
She posted about it on Twitter yesterday saying this,
"I am not afraid to tell my story anymore."
These are some of the most cherished, celebrated athletes
in America, in the world. And they're coming forward
and saying, "This also happened to me.
We were also abused, and right under the noses
of the US Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics,
and the American public. This was happening
while we were competing for you in London and before then."
Their public coming forward, I think,
the importance of that can't be overstated.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYS) ♪
BAILIFF: All rise.
JUDGE ROSEMARIE AQUILINA: Thank you. You may be seated.
The attorneys asked if I would take a plea,
and I advised, "That's fine,
but I'm going to let everybody talk.
Because he harmed so many, not just the girls,
but everybody who touches this case."
Victims will be allowed to speak,
and we'll continue until all victims have had an opportunity.
POSTHUMA: When the opportunity posed for us
to do our impact statements, I was thankfully at a place
where I knew that you don't need to be shameful
'cause it wasn't your fault, and you don't need to live
in that darkness anymore.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYS) ♪
SMITH: You know, the day of court, my alarm went off,
and I have never been in such a panic.
Like, I felt like I was falling off a cliff when I woke up.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
There were so many people in there
that were so heavily impacted by what happened.
SMITH: Every time a door opened, we were all-- (GASPS)
You know? Like, I felt that tension
and I felt everyone's eyes go to the door immediately.
(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING)
The first victim will be publicly identified.
-Miss Kyle Stephens. -(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING)
KYLE STEPHENS: Good morning.
Up until this point,
I've been known as Victim ZA, or family friend.
I was the first to testify in this case
and, wary of the attention that could come with that,
I asked for complete anonymity.
I'm addressing you publicly today
as a final step and statement to myself
that I have nothing to be ashamed of.
My parents had become close friends with Larry
and his wife, Stephanie. It was during this time--
I estimate I was approximately six years old--
that Larry Nassar began to sexually abuse me.
He first exposed his penis to me in a dark boiler room
in the basement of his home.
He told me, "If you ever want to see it,
all you have to do is ask."
Let me remind you of the interests
of a six-year-old girl.
My favorite TV show was Clifford The Big Red Dog
and my favorite book was Junie B. Jones.
I could not do a multiplication problem
and still had not lost all my baby teeth.
Someone of this maturity level should not be sexually active,
but I was. Without my knowledge or consent,
I had engaged in my first sexual experience
by kindergarten. And it progressed from exposure
to masturbating in front of me while playing hide-and-go-seek,
rubbing his bare penis on my bare feet,
and penetrating my vagina with his fingers.
It took a friend confiding the details of her sexual abuse
for me to realize that something was wrong.
I was 12 years old when I told my parents,
"When Larry rubs my feet, he uses his penis."
My parents confronted him, and he denied any such action.
Due to complex details that I won't get into here,
my parents chose to believe Larry Nassar over me.
I spent the years between 12 and 18
avoiding and detaching from my family.
To my father, someone who makes such heinous false accusations
is the worst type of person.
His belief that I had lied seeped into the foundation
of our relationship. Every time we got into a fight,
he would tell me, "You need to apologize to Larry."
It wasn't until I was about to leave for college
that I took another chance at clearing my name.
Larry Nassar's actions had already caused me
significant anguish, but I hurt worse as I watched my father
realize what he had put me through.
My father and I did our best to patch up
our tattered relationship
before he committed suicide in 2016.
AQUILINA: It was very painful.
You could see it in their face.
People were shaking, crying...
just at the sight of Nassar.
JORDYN WIEBER: I thought that training for the Olympics
would be the hardest thing that I would ever have to do.
But in fact, the hardest thing I've ever had to do
is process that I'm a victim of Larry Nassar.
As I listened, I started getting angry,
which I didn't want to get angry.
When the proceedings started,
it was just like any other court hearing.
And really what happened is every day,
there were more and more girls coming forward.
ANGELA POVILAITIS: The next survivor you will hear from is Amanda Thomashow.
-LINDSEY LEMKE: Lindsey Lemke. -POVILAITIS: Jessica Smith,
and she has agreed to be publicly identified.
Normally, there are not people applauding.
(APPLAUSE)
People booing the defense lawyers.
My office and my family were getting death threats.
My co-counsel was getting death threats on his children.
At times, I was very fearful of just the vulnerability
coming out into fighting.
It felt like you were really a part of a mob.
And it was just adding like a constant fuel to a fire.
It's almost like that kind of an explosion was inevitable.
REPORTER 5: Gymnastics doctor who has admitted
to sexually assaulting young girls,
claiming it was medical treatment,
back in court today.
Judge, I would ask you to, as part of the sentencing,
to grant me five minutes
in a locked room with this demon.
-I have given-- -Would you do that?
JUDGE JANICE CUNNINGHAM:
-Yes or no? -CUNNINGHAM:
-Would you give me one minute? -(UNCOMFORTABLE CHUCKLES)
CUNNINGHAM:
-Well, I'm gonna have to just-- -(SURPRISED SHOUTS)
RANDALL MARGRAVES: Let me at that son of a bitch.
OFFICER 2: I understand, but stay down.
MARGRAVES: Give me one minute with that bastard.
One minute.
OFFICER 2: Relax, sir. Relax. Take it easy, buddy.
Just relax. 1, 2, 3.
What if this happened to you guys' daughters?
-(WOMAN BREATHING HEAVILY) -CUNNINGHAM: You can't do that.
You cannot behave like that.
"I'm very concerned...
about my ability to be able to face witnesses
this next four days mentally."
The letter he wrote me was all about him,
him wanting to be in control.
Sir, there's a few sentences in here that concern me.
Your letter states,
"Now, Aquilina is having a four-day...
sentencing media circus.
She wants me to sit in the witness box next to her
for all four days so the media cameras
-will be directed toward her." -(CROWD CHUCKLES)
And the portions I didn't want to read
is because he's actually listed some names. Victim blaming.
I didn't want to read it and then black out the names
because each girl is going to put their name in there.
There's no good that's going to come from reading
that whole letter, which is why I sealed it.
INTERVIEWER: What was it like for you to consider
if you wanted to read a statement in court?
CHELSEA ZERFAS: Um. At first, I was kind of unsure
just because of being in that courtroom
and having to face the person who did all that stuff to me.
But at the same time, I wanted to have a voice.
You manipulated me so much that I didn't know
what was going on. Larry acted as if he was a friend.
He would greet me with a sickening smile
every time I saw him.
I remember him liking my posts on Instagram.
It's weird to think that an older male doctor
was liking a little girl's posts and commenting "Merry Christmas"
on Christmas morning.
I started to get anxiety after seeing
all the news reports about him.
I felt like I couldn't breathe and I would tremble in fear.
I have nightmares about what happened
and have troubles with sleeping.
(VOICE SHAKING) I've been put on anxiety pills
just so I can function throughout the day.
It's hard for me to trust people because of you.
I get scared and uncomfortable
when I have to go to the doctor's.
I get scared that I will be taken advantage of
once again by another doctor, just like you did.
I've tried my best to gain back the strength I once had.
I am a survivor. Here I am today facing my abuser.
I'm finally being heard. I'm no longer hiding my story.
When it first started, there were only about six
who were actually going to come public with their name.
One girl empowered the next, empowered the next.
ALY RAISMAN: Your honor, I didn't think I would be here today.
I was scared and nervous.
It wasn't until I started watching
the impact statements from the other brave survivors
that I realized I too needed to be here.
I am also here to tell you to your face, Larry,
that you have not taken gymnastics away from me.
I love this sport, and that love is stronger than the evil
that resides in you and those who enabled you
to hurt many people.
Larry, you do realize now 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?
You hear these statements and, you know, they're so brave.
So, I wanted them to know, one,
I wanted the little ones to know
that I was there for them 'cause I was older
and I do know him very well and I wanted them to know
that I'll stand, I'll stand with them.
If you will allow it,
I would like to address him directly.
AQUILINA: You may.
-(SOBS) -AQUILINA: Take your time.
HOMER: It's all right, sweetie.
-Wow. -You're strong. You're strong.
GONCZAR: What have you done?
I look at these young girls here and I told my mom
the hardest part for me was to see how little they were.
She said to me, "You were that little too,
if not younger."
I had to make an extremely hard choice this week, Larry.
I had to choose whether continue supporting you through this
or to support them, the girls.
I choose them, Larry.
I've known you basically all of my life.
In fact, I've known you 31 of 37 years.
I remember your wedding,
thinking Stephanie was the luckiest woman in the world.
My heart hurts for her and the kids every single day.
Why lose everything and everything that was good?
For what?
We literally loved you like family
because we thought you loved us back.
I choose to look you in the face and tell you that you hurt us.
You hurt me,
as I've had to realize I was abused
for many years of my life.
And this, my old friend, is because of you.
I don't know who you are now.
Larry, I think you will be happy to know
that I am 12 weeks pregnant today.
It's a little boy.
And I will do everything for the rest of my life
to make sure that the yous of this world
don't get to hurt another one of us.
Goodbye, Larry.
It's time for me to close the door.
May God bless your dark, broken soul.
AQUILINA: Thank you.
We are on our final victim impact statement.
I am so honored to let you know that the next person
you will hear from is Rachael Denhollander.
(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING)
How much is a little girl worth?
At 15, I believed that the adults at MSU
surrounding Larry would do the right thing,
and I was terribly wrong.
You play word games, saying you didn't know
because no one believed
because these teenagers didn't report it
to the right official.
And so, I am asking point-blank. When Kathie Klages humiliated
Larissa Boyce and waved the report form
in front of her, telling her there would be consequences
if she reported, is this the right way
or the wrong way?
When Amanda Thomashow reported to the Title IX office
and Larry was allowed to hand-pick the four colleagues
to determine whether his treatment was legitimate,
was it the right way or the wrong way
to handle a report of sexual assault on MSU's campus?
No one wanted to listen.
I ask that you hand down a sentence that tells us
that what was done to us matters.
Larry said in court that he hoped education
and learning would happen.
This is what we need to learn.
Look around the courtroom.
Remember what you have witnessed these past seven days,
and let it be a warning to us all.
When the adults in authority do not respond properly
to disclosures of sexual assault,
when institutions create a culture
where a predator can flourish unafraid.
This is what it looks like.
It looks like a courtroom full of survivors
who carry deep wounds,
women and girls who carry scars that will never fully heal,
but who have banded together to fight for themselves
because no one else would do it.
Women and girls who have made the choice to place the guilt
and shame on the only person to whom it belongs, the abuser.
But may the horror expressed in this courtroom
over the last seven days be motivation for anyone
and everyone, no matter the context,
to take responsibility if they have erred
in protecting a child.
To understand the incredible failures
that led to this week,
and to do it better the next time.
Because everything is what these survivors are worth.
-Thank you. -AQUILINA: Thank you.
You built an army of survivors and you are a five-star general.
(LAUGHTER)
You made all of this happen.
You made all these voices matter.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
MAN: Larry wants to address the court as well.
AQUILINA: What would you like me to know?
It's just a short statement.
Um. Your words these past several days,
your words, your words,
have had a significant emotional effect on myself
and have shaken me to my core.
I also recognize that what I am feeling
pales in comparison to the pain, trauma,
and emotional destruction that all of you are feeling.
There are no words that can describe
the depth and breadth of how sorry I am
for what has occurred.
BOYCE: He heard all the cries, so he turned around again
and more and more girls started crying.
And then the judge realized what he was doing.
An acceptable apology...
AQUILINA: Sir, you need to stay at the microphone
or they can't hear you.
An acceptable apology to all of you
is impossible to write and convey.
I will carry your words with me for the rest of my days.
(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING)
"The media convinced them
that everything I did was wrong and bad.
They feel I broke their trust.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
(CROWD GROANS)
His letter fired me up so much.
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
I mean, he's not comprehending the damage that he has done.
That line really says it all. He has no respect for women.
BOYCE: I think it helped hearing that, actually,
because I-- there's been many times where I felt bad
for him because we had this relationship with him.
We, like, we really loved him,
and looked up to him, and cared about him.
And so, it was good to hear those words that he wrote
because it made me f-- not feel bad for him anymore.
(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING)
Would you like to withdraw your plea?
NASSAR: No, your honor.
AQUILINA: Because you are guilty, aren't you?
Are you guilty, sir?
If I thought he was worthy of being rehabilitated,
I would have sentenced him to the 25 years.
Based on his comments to the girls,
he was not remorseful.
He is a true predator.
That's all for the record.
BAILIFF: All rise.
(APPLAUSE)
SMITH: You know,
I really expected to feel a lot better,
if I'm being honest.
Felt like I was going to walk out and be like,
"Great, things are better now."
You know, and people are like "It's over!" It's not over.
♪ (SOFT MUSIC PLAYS) ♪
MORGAN MCCAUL: While it was very empowering
to watch these women,
they're taking back their voice
but they shouldn't have ever had
to use it to say, "Me too."
Disclosing your name and your face
along with your story in this volume
to be believed is a travesty.
HAMILTON: We need to deliver on the promise to these victims
that the world will be better because you came forward.
The "Me Too" movement will be a success
if it turns into social and legal change.
REPORTER 6: Is there any truth that there's money
been put aside for counseling
-for these girls? -Yes.
REPORTER 6: Have any of the girls been contacted yet?
They were supposed to be--
What about for those of us who have already had counseling
but this is now a year and a half later
that you're doing this?
The counseling fund, if you read the--
the material that was released publicly--
LEMKE: I would like to hear it from you, personally.
Okay. Includes past expenses.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYS) ♪
Another former Michigan State employee
is facing criminal charges tonight.
The State Attorney General's Office is charging
former MSU Gymnastics coach, Kathie Klages,
with two counts of lying to investigators.
REPORTER 7: As of today, there have been
three former MSU employees
charged during MSU's investigation.
♪ (MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
REPORTER 8: Young gymnasts who say they were victimized
by Larry Nassar are now advocating for changes
to Michigan laws to make it easier
to hold abuse enablers accountable.
INTERVIEWER: What can be done so this does not happen?
You have to start from scratch.
You have to create a whole new governing body,
new USA Gymnastics.
You need to move it out of Indianapolis.
You need to bring people in that know all sides of the sport,
and including, you know, treating people right.
There is a sense that slowly but surely,
progress is being made
and people in positions of authority
are having to answer for what happened.
More fallout from the Larry Nassar scandal.
USA Gymnastics has suspended
the owner of Twistars, John Geddert.
We demonize the Nassars and the Sanduskys,
uh, and they've done horrible things.
But it's the ones who covered it up
who made it worse and created more victims.
SEN. JERRY MORAN: Mr. Penny. Uh, let me ask you this.
Uh, after being informed about the abuse,
my understanding is that, uh, you waited 41 days
to contact law enforcement. Is that correct?
I would like to answer your question.
However, I've been instructed by my attorney
to assert my rights under the 5th Amendment.
You were part of an organization,
United States Gymnastics.
Don't you feel you have a responsibility to the athletes
who are here today and to others around the country?
Respectfully, Senator,
I've been instructed by my attorney
to assert my rights under the 5th Amendment
and decline to answer your question.
♪ (MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
What we really have to do
is we have to start listening to our kids.
If a child says to you they don't like
how someone touched them, you don't say,
"But that's one of the nicest people I ever met."
You sit down and you say, "Why? What was wrong?"
INTERVIEWER: Would you let your daughter do gymnastics?
BOYCE: I have mixed emotions.
I feel hopeful that...
changes, positive changes, are being made
so it will be a better sport for her... eventually.
MOCEANU: The sport is beautiful It's a wonderful sport.
My child does it.
I didn't yank him out just because of this.
No. I felt empowered that, hey, the sport's going to be better
for a future generation of children, right,
because we stood up and we did something about it
and we're actually being heard now.
(CHILDREN CHATTER)
ZERFAS: I would see, like, my old teammates posting,
and I'd see all these things about gymnastics
and I really missed it, and one day I told my mom
that I really wanted to do it again.
So, it's where I'm at now.
How does that look?
That looks good.
COACH: Okay. I mean, why don't you try it? You try a couple.
-and then if it needs to be moved, I'm happy to move it. -ZERFAS: Okay.
-COACH: Does that work? -ZERFAS: Yeah.
ZERFAS: I did feel that I'm finally able
to start my life again
and not have to worry about him
ever doing anything wrong again.
And being back, I...
I was able to build up that confidence I once had,
and I'm just able to do what I love.
♪ ("I'M STILL HERE" BY SIA PLAYS) ♪
♪ I'm winning the war now ♪
♪ I'm winning it all now ♪
♪ Watch tears While they fall down ♪
♪ I'm winning the war now ♪
♪ I win against ego ♪
♪ Cast light On the shadow's long ♪
♪ I'm winning from ego ♪
♪ I'm lighting The long way home ♪
♪ Oh, the past, it haunted me ♪
♪ Oh, the past It wanted me dead ♪
♪ Oh, the past tormented me ♪
♪ Oh, the past It wanted me dead ♪
♪ Oh, the past, it haunted me ♪
♪ Oh, the past It wanted me dead ♪
♪ Oh, the past tormented me ♪
♪ But the battle was lost ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm still here ♪
♪ It's haunted me ♪
♪ Oh, the past It wanted me dead ♪
♪ Oh, the past It's haunted me ♪
♪ Oh, the past It wanted me dead ♪
♪ Oh, the past It's haunted me ♪
♪ Oh, the past It wanted me dead ♪
♪ Oh, the past tormented me ♪
♪ But the battle was lost ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm still here ♪
♪ I'm fighting my ego ♪
♪ Lost youth, Where did we go wrong? ♪
♪ I'm winning for me, though ♪
♪ I'm lighting The long way home ♪
♪ Oh, the past, it haunted me ♪
♪ Oh, the past It wanted me dead ♪
♪ Oh, the past tormented me ♪
♪ Oh, the past It wanted me dead ♪
♪ Oh, the past, it haunted me ♪
♪ Oh, the past It wanted me dead ♪
♪ Oh, the past tormented me ♪
♪ But the battle was lost ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm still here ♪
♪ It's haunted me ♪
♪ Oh, the past It wanted me dead ♪
♪ Oh, the past It's haunted me ♪
♪ Oh, the past It wanted me dead ♪
♪ Oh, the past It's haunted me ♪
♪ Oh, the past It wanted me dead ♪
♪ Oh, the past tormented me ♪
♪ But the battle was lost ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm still here ♪
♪ (MUSIC PLAYS) ♪