Former Michigan State University doctor who sexually assaulted hundreds of gymnasts is stabbed in prison
Former Michigan State University faculty member Larry Nassar, imprisoned for sexually abusing Olympic and college female gymnasts, has been stabbed multiple times in a federal prison in Florida.
The Associated Press reports that the attack on the ex-doctor happened Sunday at United States Penitentiary Coleman. Nassar was reported to be in stable condition.
Nassar is serving decades in prison for convictions in state and federal courts. He admitted sexually assaulting athletes when he worked at Michigan State University and at Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians.
Several athletes testified in 2018 that — over the course of Nassar’s more than two decades of sexual abuse — they had told adults, including coaches and athletic trainers, what was happening but that it went unreported.
More than 100 women, including Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, collectively are seeking more than $1 billion from the federal government for the FBI’s failure to stop Nassar when agents became aware of allegations against him in 2015. He was arrested by Michigan State University police in 2016, more than a year later.
The Justice Department’s inspector general said in July 2021 that the FBI made “fundamental” errors in investigating the sexual abuse allegations against Nassar and did not treat the case with the “utmost seriousness.”
Michigan State, which was accused of missing chances over many years to stop Nassar, agreed to pay $500 million to more than 300 women and girls who were assaulted by him. USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee made a $380 million settlement.
In June 2022, the Michigan Supreme Court rejected a final appeal from Nassar.
