Former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar has been sentenced to 175 years in prison in his sexual abuse case.
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Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentences Larry Nassar to 40 to 175 years in prison. “I just signed your death warrant.” https://t.co/QwSsbBWFuX
More than 150 victims delivered powerful impact statements over the last seven days, detailing how Nassar abused and manipulated them over the years.
Prior to his sentencing, Nassar read brief prepared remarks. Your words these past several days have had a significant emotional effect on myself, he said, speaking to his victims. I recognize that what Im feeling pales in comparison to the pain, trauma and emotional destruction that all of you have felt. There are no words to describe the depth and breadth of how sorry I am for what has occurred. I will carry your words with me for the rest of my days.
Prosecutor Angela Povilaitis had asked Judge Rosemarie Aquilina to sentence Nassar to up to 125 years — one year for every person who had submitted a police report at the time of his guilty plea. The plea deal set sentencing guidelines at 25-40 years, which means that Nassar would has the option to back out of the agreement because Aquilina sentenced him to more than 40 years.
Nassar, 54, received a 60-year federal prison sentence in December for child pornography charges.
Though Nassar was apologetic during his statement, Aquilina read sections of a letter he submitted to the court last week in which he maintains that what he did was medical and not sexual in nature. He wrote that media reports sensationalized the stories about his abuse and he was forced to admit that they were sexual in nature in order to get a plea deal.
The most powerful moment occurred when she told him, “I just signed your death warrant.”
