In 2018, Larry Nassar, a former doctor for USA Gymnastics and member of the Michigan State University sports medicine staff, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual assault charges.
The Associated Press recently reported that 13 of Nassar’s victims are each seeking $10 million from the FBI, claiming a bungled investigation by agents led to more abuse by him.
In 2015, Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics told local FBI agents three gymnasts said they were assaulted by Nassar, but they did not open a formal investigation or inform federal or state authorities in Michigan, according to the inspector general’s report.
Nassar was ultimately arrested in November 2016 during an investigation by MSU police.
The victims seeking $10 million from the FBI are just a few out of over 150 women and girls Nassar allegedly abused over the span of 25 years, according to an Associated Press article.
It hurts my heart to think that the same law enforcement agency we frequently make jokes about spying on us 24/7 via our laptop webcams and cell phones let Nassar get away with his evil acts for as long as he did.
What hurts me even more is knowing there were so many times he could have been stopped if one adult had just listened.
In her victim statement, which was broadcast by several news outlets, Kyle Stephens said that at 12 years old, she told her parents about the abuse she began to experience from Nassar at 6 years old. Instead of listening to her, her words were dismissed as lies and she was consistently told to apologize to Nassar, leading her to endure more years of abuse.
Imagine being a terrified child, experiencing traumatizing harm, and when asking for help, you’re made to say sorry to the person hurting you, and he’s allowed to continue ripping away your innocence at such a young age.
Some of the women he abused were Olympic gymnasts, such as Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, Jordyn Wieber and McKayla Maroney.
Imagine being a member of a national team who is constantly being looked at during a major international event, a person about whom the media frequently reports, interviews and captures photos of, and a person who other athletes admire and some aspire to be as great as one day, yet not a single person could help you in a time of need.
What’s most unfortunate is that this is just one of many times women and girls have suffered at the hands of adults, more specifically, a man, when it could have been prevented if someone had just listened.
It’s frustrating. It’s upsetting. It is painful for me to think about the number of women, of all ages, that have shared the same universal experience of being groomed and abused at the hands of a man abusing the power he had over them.
“Why didn’t you say something about it earlier?” “What were you wearing?” “Maybe you provoked him.” And the saying I dread the most of all, “Well, boys will be boys.”
How about instead of questioning women and creating excuses as to why it happened, you hold men accountable.
Ask them why they decided it was OK to make a woman feel uncomfortable and violated. Tell them to control themselves and be respectful to women.
And when a woman approaches you with such crucial and serious information, shut up, listen, and most importantly, help her! Or at the very least, help her get the help she needs!
Don’t turn her away because you think she might be part of the small percentage of people who lie about these things, because chances are, she’s not.
If a lawsuit follows, I hope the victims are awarded the compensation they deserve and that this not only sends a message of empowerment to victims of any kind of abuse who have yet to speak their truth, but I hope this lets people remember what Stephens told Nassar during his sentencing hearing, “Little girls don’t stay little forever. They grow into strong women that return to destroy your world.”
