Disgraced former US gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar has been sentenced to 175 years in prison for the sexual abuse of some 98 Olympic athletes, the majority of whom were children at the time of his crimes.
Nassar was the doctor for the US gymnastics team for 20 years. He faced lawsuits from 140 women accusing him of sexual abuse during this time. US Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney was among Nassar’s victims and had called for the maximum sentence possible.
“I just signed your death warrant,” Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina told Nassar in imposing the penalty, after condemning his years of abuse.
“Sir you knew you had a problem, that is clear to me. You knew you had a problem from a very young age, even before you were a doctor. You knew you could have taken yourself away from temptation,” Aquilina said during the sentencing on Wednesday.
“Your decision to assault was precise, calculated… and despicable,” the judge added. “You do not deserve to walk outside of a prison ever again… Everywhere you walk, destruction will occur to those most vulnerable.”
Nassar was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years in prison, and up to 175. He has 21 days to appeal the verdict.
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