Larry Nassar

The USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal is a series of criminal activities involving the sexual abuse of minors in which Larry Nassar, a fired USA Gymnastics national team doctor, has pleaded guilty. He is named in hundreds of lawsuits filed by athletes who allege that Nassar sexually abused them under the pretense of giving them medical treatment. Since the first allegations were brought by former club gymnast Rachael Denhollander against Nassar and made public in September 2016, former USA Gymnastics national team members Jamie Dantzscher, Jeanette Antolin, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, and Gabby Douglas have accused Nassar of sexually abusing them as well. Nassar initially denied the sexual abuse charges. In July 2017, Nassar pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges and was sentenced to 60 years in prison. On November 22, 2017, he pleaded guilty to seven charges of first-degree sexual assault and entered another guilty plea on November 29, 2017 to three additional charges of sexual assault.

USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University — where Nassar was a faculty member — have been accused of negligence and are named as defendants in civil lawsuits that former gymnasts have filed against Nassar.

Dr. Lawrence G. Nassar was a licensed physician and the national team sports-medicine doctor for USA Gymnastics. He also ran a clinic and gymnastics club at Michigan State University, where he was a faculty member. USA Gymnastics fired Nassar in 2015 "after learning of athlete concerns."

In September 2016, The Indianapolis Star revealed that two former gymnasts had made allegations of sexual abuse against Nassar. Following those allegations, Michigan State University reassigned Nassar from his clinical and teaching duties and fired him later that same month. Since then, over 150 people have accused Nassar of sexually abusing them. According to these allegations, Nassar committed sexual assault during medical examinations, ranging from inserting a finger in the gymnasts' vaginas and anuses, to fondling their breasts and genitalia. Nassar initially denied the charges, claiming he was performing legitimate medical procedures. In February 2017, three former gymnasts, Jeanette Antolin, Jessica Howard and Jamie Dantzscher, gave an interview with 60 Minutes in which they accused Nassar of sexually abusing them. The gymnasts also alleged that the "emotionally abusive environment" at the national team training camps run by Béla and Márta Károlyi at the Karolyi Ranch in Huntsville, Texas gave Nassar an opportunity to take advantage of the gymnasts and made them afraid to speak up about the abuse. On October 18, 2017, Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney, using the #MeToo hashtag on Twitter, alleged that Nassar repeatedly molested her, starting when she was 13 years old and until she retired from the sport in 2016. During a November 12, 2017 60 Minutes interview, Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman also accused Nassar of sexually abusing her. In a statement posted to Instagram on November 21, 2017, Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas said she was also a victim of Nassar's alleged abuse.

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