Convicted abuser and ex-gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar stabbed in prison - report
Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor who was convicted of decades of abuse of women and girls under the guise of medical treatment, was reportedly stabbed at a federal prison in Florida on Sunday.
The Associated Press reported that Nassar was involved in an altercation with another person at United States Penitentiary Coleman in Florida and was stabbed multiple times, including in the chest and back.
Nassar was in stable condition, the AP said.
In 2018, in an end to the biggest sexual abuse scandals in US sports history, hundreds of women and girls gave victim impact statements against Nassar, detailing allegations of abuse as far back as the 1990s.
Several athletes, including the Olympians Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, testified that they relayed allegations to coaches, trainers and others which were not reported to authorities.
More than 100 women, including the Olympian Simone Biles, sued the US government for more than $1bn over the FBI’s failure to take action after learning of allegations against Nassar in 2015. That inaction allowed Nassar to continue to abuse women and girls for more than a year before he pleaded guilty in 2017.
Michigan State University, whose president, Lou Anna Simon, and athletic director, Mark Hollis, resigned amid fallout from the scandal, agreed a $500m settlement with more than 300 women and girls, a sum far larger than the $60m Penn State University paid to victims of the former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
MSU had been accused of ignoring and failing to act to stop Nassar during his decades of abuse.
USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee agreed a $380m settlement with more than 500 women and girls.
In 2018, a judge in Michigan sentenced Nassar to more than 175 years in prison, declaring: “I just signed your death warrant.”
Source: The Guardian US
