The Secret Sits

The USA Gymnastics Scandal

July 29, 2021 John W. Dodson Season 1 Episode 26
The Secret Sits
The USA Gymnastics Scandal
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Show Notes Transcript

Every couple of years, countries from around the globe, send tributes to participate in a fierce battle to win precious medals, which they will proudly take back to their respective countries.  No, I am not talking about The Hunger Games, I am talking about our modern-day Olympics.  These games have made brilliantly performing athletes into house hold names and celebrities.  But hidden amongst these elite athletes are snakes.  I’m John Dodson and today, on The Secret Sits, we are going to talk about the ghastly deeds of Dr. Larry Nassar.

Victims in this case who have bravely come forward publicly include:
Rachael Denhollander
Jeanette Antonlin
Jessica Howard
Jamie Dantzscher
Betty Okino
Kim Zmeskal
Kristie Philips
Kerri Strug
Chelle Stack
Dominique Moceanu
McKayla Maroney
Aly Raisman
Gabby Douglas
Simone Biles
Maggie Nichols
Jordyn Wieber
Sara Klein
Tiffany Thomas Lopez
Mary Lou Retton
Julianne McNamara

Our Love and Support goes out to every person involved in this case.

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#olympics #USAGymnastics #LarryNassar #UniversityofMichigan #MSU #BelaKarolyi #MartaKarolyi #MeToo #Abuse #Power #Justice #UnitedStatesOlympicCommittee #ESPY #ESPYAwards #Twistars #TwistarsGymnasticsClub

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Every couple of years, countries from around the globe, send tributes to participate in a fierce battle to win precious medals, which they will proudly take back to their respective countries.  No, I am not talking about The Hunger Games, I am talking about our modern-day Olympics.  These games have made brilliantly performing athletes into house hold names and celebrities.  But hidden amongst these elite athletes are snakes.  I’m John Dodson and today, on The Secret Sits, we are going to talk about the ghastly deeds of Dr Larry Nassar.

Larry Nassar was born on August 16, 1963, in Farmington Hills, Michigan, to Fred and Mary Nassar. He began working as a student athletic trainer for the women's gymnastics team at North Farmington High School at age 15 in 1978 on the recommendation of his older brother Mike, who was an athletic trainer at the school. Nassar graduated from North Farmington High School in 1981. He studied kinesiology at the University of Michigan, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 1985. During this time, he worked for the university's football and track & field teams.

He married Stephanie Lynn Anderson on October 19, 1996, and they have two daughters and a son. The couple separated after he was arrested on suspicion of sex crimes, with Stephanie Nassar being granted a divorce in July 2017 and gaining full custody of their three children. Nassar lived in Holt, Michigan at the time of his December 2016 arrest.

Nassar began working as an athletic trainer for the USA Gymnastics national team in 1986. In 1993, he graduated from the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his residency training in family practice at St. Lawrence Hospital before completing a fellowship in sports medicine in 1997.

He began working as an assistant professor at MSU's Department of Family and Community Medicine in the College of Human Medicine in 1997, where he earned $100,000 a year. Nassar is listed as a co-author on at least six research papers on the treatment of gymnastics injuries. He began working as a team doctor at Holt High School in 1996.

In 1988, Nassar began working with John Geddert at Twistars, a gymnastics training club.  Geddert, was another snake.  He was charged with two dozen crimes earlier February 25, 2021, including forms of human trafficking. Hours after being charged with sexual assault, he reportedly killed himself.

While some gymnasts have said they complained in the 1990s about Nassar's behavior, it was not until 2015 that USA Gymnastics took action against him. The organization cut ties with Nassar "after learning of athlete concerns." In September 2016, The Indianapolis Star reported that Rachael Denhollander and another former gymnast had accused Nassar of sexual abuse. He was fired by Michigan State on September 20, after having been reassigned from clinical and teaching duties a month earlier.

Denhollander filed a criminal complaint against Nassar two weeks ago with Michigan State University Police, alleging the doctor sexually assaulted her when she received treatment for lower back pain as a 15-year-old club-level gymnast in 2000. University officials confirmed that police are conducting a criminal investigation.

She said Nassar gradually became more abusive over five treatments, massaging her genitals, penetrating her vagina and anus with his finger and thumb and unhooking her bra and massaging her breasts. She said she also relayed those details to police.

Nassar’s attorney said his client never used a procedure that involved penetration.

Denhollander said her mother was present during Nassar’s treatments, but that he positioned himself and her in such a way that only her head and back were visible.

“I was terrified,” she recalled. “I was ashamed. I was very embarrassed. And I was very confused, trying to reconcile what was happening with the person he was supposed to be. He’s this famous doctor. He’s trusted by my friends. He’s trusted by these other gymnasts. How could he reach this position in the medical profession, how could he reach this kind of prominence and stature if this is who he is?”

She said she figured the problem must be with her.

“Part of that, I know now, is a very common response that victims have,” Denhollander said. “It’s much easier in some ways to hide from what’s happening and just go somewhere else mentally. It was easier to not have to verbalize and recognize what was happening.”

In February 2017, three former gymnasts: Jeanette Antolin, Jessica Howard and Jamie Dantzscher, gave an interview for 60 Minutes in which they said that Nassar had sexually abused them. They also alleged that the "emotionally abusive environment" at the national team training camps run by Béla and Márta Károlyi, at the Karolyi Ranch near Huntsville, Texas, gave Nassar an opportunity to take advantage of the gymnasts and made them afraid to speak up about the abuse.

So, lets talk a little about Béla and Márta Károlyi.  Bela was a skilled athlete and a national junior boxing champion, Bela Karolyi was born in Hungary on September 13, 1942. He pursued the study of gymnastics at the Romania College of Physical Education. During his college senior year, he was assigned to coach the women's gymnastics team, where he first met his future wife Marta Eross.

After their marriage in 1963, the couple moved to a small town and together launched a gymnastics class at a local elementary school. They rose through fame as the government invited them to create a national school for gymnastics. In the late 1960s, Bela Karolyi started coaching the six-year-old Nadia Comaneci. Comaneci is a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976 at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 at the Olympic Games.

Bela debuted as an international coach in 1974, two years before Montreal Olympics. Following his 1976 success through Comaneci, Karolyi was named head coach for the Romanian gymnastics team at the 1980 Olympics. However, he soon earned the displeasure of the Romanian officials for protesting the scores at multiple international events. As the relation soured, the Karolyis defected to the USA and settled in Oklahoma and later Houston. 

Bela Karolyi was soon invited to coach US gymnasts who had the potential to earn medals at the Olympics. He served as the individual coach of Mary Lou Retton and Julianne McNamara in 1984 and reportedly underwent a lot of struggles since he did not have an official position. 

From there, he went on to earn vast praise by coaching esteemed gymnasts like Betty Okino, Kim Zmeskal, Kristie Philips, and Kerri Strug. 

In the past few years, many of these athletes have come forward to criticize his training methods, publicly stating the Karolyi was verbally and psychologically abusive towards them during the exercise regimes. His constant shaming and negative remarks about body types and weight resulted in the young athletes developing eating disorders. The abuse was not only limited to food. Olympians Chelle Stack, Dominique Moceanu and Kristie Philips have alleged that they were forced to continue training even with broken bones. 

One novelist stated the following claims pertaining to Bela, "Starving the gymnasts was a regular practice by the Karolyis. The girls ate toothpaste at night before going to bed — this is how hungry they were. In some cases, they talked about drinking water from the toilet tank in secret, because they were often not allowed to drink water,”

The book further reveals, "Some ended up suffering from bulimia. They became expert in stealing food, which they hid in places they thought no one would discover, like the hem of the curtain." The writer added that Karolyi often ate heavy meals of steaks and french fries in front of the girls who were being under-fed. Even Nadia Comaneci has alleged that Bela Karolyi slapped and starved her for up to three days at a time, according to Daily Mail. 

He and his wife are also under fire for turning a blind eye to the alleged sexual abuse by Dr. Larry Nassar. 

Meanwhile, Karolyi never explicitly denied the allegations against him, rather he even tried to justify them. "By nature, I am never satisfied. It's never enough, never. My gymnasts are the best prepared in the world. And they win. That's all that counts," Bela is quoted as saying.

 Rachael Denhollander, one of the first women to publicly accuse Nassar, said in court in May 2017 that Nassar had sexually abused her on five doctor's visits in 2000 when she was 15 years old.

Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney, using the #MeToo hashtag on Twitter, said that Nassar had repeatedly molested her from 2008, when she was 13 years old, until she retired from the sport eight years later in 2016. Maroney subsequently filed a lawsuit against Nassar, Michigan State University, the United States Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics. The lawsuit accused USA Gymnastics of covering up the sexual abuse by requiring her to sign a non-disclosure agreement in her $1.25 million settlement. Maroney's attorney John Manly called Nassar a "pedophile doctor".

During a 60 Minutes interview, Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman said that Nassar had also sexually abused her. Raisman said that Nassar molested her when she was 15 years old. Gabby Douglas sent a tweet saying that "dressing in a provocative/sexual way incites the wrong crowd." She was criticized for it by fellow Olympic teammate Simone Biles and others, who interpreted the tweet as criticism of Raisman and "victim-shaming". Douglas later apologized for the tweet stating, “i didn’t correctly word my reply &  i am deeply sorry for coming off like i don’t stand alongside my teammates. regardless of what you wear, abuse under any circumstance is never acceptable. i am WITH you.” Douglas later stated that she too was a victim of Nassar's abuse.

Former national team member Maggie Nichols also said that Nassar abused her. He connected with her on Facebook and complimented her appearance on several occasions. "I was only 15 and I just thought he was trying to be nice to me" and that this behavior was part of his "grooming process".  According to court filings and interviews, Nichols and her coach Sarah Jantzi reported Nassar to USA Gymnastics officials on June 17, 2015 after the coach overheard Nichols and another gymnast talking about Nassar's behavior. Biles came forward shortly after with accounts that she too had been sexually abused by Nassar. Jordyn Wieber made an impact statement at Nassar's court sentencing in which she also accused Nassar of sexually abusing her during her time at USA Gymnastics and talked of its effects.  Wieber stated, "I thought that training for the Olympics would be hardest thing I would ever have to do. But the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do is process that I am a victim of Larry Nassar."  “He did it time after time, appointment after appointment,” Wieber said. “…I had no idea that he was sexually abusing me for his benefit.”

Wieber held back tears as she described the discomfort she and her teammates, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, shared regarding their treatments. She said she accepted the need for treatments in order to keep competing.

She said when the Olympic team’s bodies “were all hanging by a thread” in London, officials sent Nassar to help, “the doctor who was an abuser.”

“Nobody was protecting us from being taken advantage of,” Wieber said. “Nobody was even concerned about whether or not we were being abused.”

Wieber called out the failings of USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Committee and Michigan State University while speaking about her experience.

"I am angry with myself for not recognizing the abuse, and that's something I'm struggling with today,"

"To this day, I don't know how he could have been allowed to do this for so long."

She said her story and the stories of the other more than 100 women are important.

 

“Even though I’m a victim, I do not and will not live my life as one,” Wieber said. “I am an Olympian.”

Nassar was indicted on November 22, 2016 on several state charges of "sexual assault of a child" from 1998 to 2005. The crimes allegedly began when the victim was six years old. He was charged with 22 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with minors: fifteen in Ingham County and seven in neighboring Eaton County. The allegations asserted that Nassar had molested seven girls under the guise that he was providing legitimate medical treatment, both at his home and at a clinic on the MSU campus. Bail was set at $1 million, and Nassar was released from jail the same day after posting bond. He was arraigned on December 8, 2016, where he pleaded not guilty to all charges. He remained free on bail until his December 16 arrest on federal charges.

Nassar was arrested on December 16, 2016 after the FBI found more than 37,000 images of child pornography and a video of Nassar allegedly molesting underage girls. He was denied bail and was ordered to remain in federal prison. On April 6, 2017, his medical license was revoked for three years. Nassar pleaded guilty on July 11 to receiving child pornography in 2004, possession of pornographic images of children dating from 2004 to 2016, and tampering with evidence by destroying and concealing the images. Judge Janet T. Neff sentenced Nassar to 60 years in federal prison on December 7, 2017.

Nassar pleaded guilty in Ingham County Circuit Court, on November 22, 2017, to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with minors under the age of sixteen. He admitted to molesting seven girls, three of whom were under the age of thirteen. He pleaded guilty to an additional three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Eaton County on November 29. As of January 18, 2018, 135 women had accused Nassar of sexual assault while he worked for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University. During the following week, the number rose to 150. In a lawsuit that was filed in April 2017, a woman claimed that Nassar had sexually assaulted her while he was still in medical school in 1992.

 

On January 24, 2018, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina of Ingham County sentenced Nassar to 40 to 175 years in prison for the sexual assault of minors to which he pleaded on November 22. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, let every single victim who wanted to speak, do so during the sentencing phase of Nassar's trial and dismissed objections raised to this ruling by Nassar. She famously told Rachel Denhollander, the first to give her statement, "You started the tidal wave. You made all of this happen. You made all of these voices matter…. You are the bravest person I have ever had in my courtroom.” During the sentencing, the judge informed Nassar that he had missed numerous chances to receive treatment for his sexual urges, as Nassar had been aware of these urges himself from a young age. She also said that there were likely dozens of additional victims who had not come forward, and made it clear that Nassar will never be free again.

Nassar was practicing without a Texas medical license while he worked at the Karolyi Ranch in Huntsville. According to McKayla Maroney, this was where Nassar molested young women for more than 15 years. Practicing medicine without a license in Texas is a third-degree felony, although it is rarely prosecuted. On January 31, 2018, a Michigan judge said that there were "over 265 identified victims and an infinite number of victims" of sexual misconduct.

On February 5, 2018, Judge Janice Cunningham of Eaton County sentenced Nassar to 40 to 125 years in prison for the three counts of criminal sexual assault to which he had pleaded November 29. Nassar apologized for his years of abuse, saying that the strong effects that his victims' statements had on him "pales in comparison" to the suffering he inflicted on them. Despite this, Cunningham stated that Nassar was still in "denial" about the "devastating impact" of his crimes. The Eaton County sentence will run concurrently with the Ingham County sentence. Nassar's state sentences will begin upon completion of his federal child pornography sentence. Neff ordered any sentences imposed at the state level to run consecutively with the federal sentence.

Nassar was transferred to the United States Penitentiary in Tucson, Arizona in February 2018. He had been transferred prior to this from Eaton County jail to the federal detention center at FCI Milan near Milan, Michigan.

In August 2018, The Detroit News reported that Nassar was transferred to the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. According to his lawyers, Nassar was assaulted almost as soon as he was placed in the general population at USP Tucson, and an investigation subsequently determined that Nassar could not be safely held at Tucson. As a result, he was moved to the United States Penitentiary, Coleman in Florida. His earliest possible release date from federal custody is January 30, 2068. If he is still alive at this point, he will be 104 years old and will be immediately transferred to a Michigan state prison to serve out his state sentences.  As a result, Nassar will serve a minimum of 90 years, 1 month, & 23 days in prison if alive, though his federal sentence alone makes it extremely probable that he will die in prison.

More than 150 federal and state lawsuits have since been filed against Nassar, Michigan State University, the US Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, and the Twistars Gymnastics Club. The entire 18-member board of USA Gymnastics, including Steve Penny, tendered their resignations. 

Penny was accused by former Olympic gymnast Dominique Moceanu of being at the forefront of USA Gymnastics ignoring the abuse of gymnasts. She personally called for his resignation. USA Gymnastics responded by saying that Penny was a leader in ensuring the safety and well-being of USA Gymnastics gymnasts.

However, while being questioned under oath, Penny testified that USA Gymnastics rarely forwarded allegations of child abuse to police or child protective services without being asked to, because of a belief that there was not a duty to report abuse, because of concerns about damaging a coach's reputation if an abuse allegation was false. That is just disgusting. 

MSU President Lou Anna Simon and MSU Director of Athletics Mark Hollis have also both resigned.

Nassar's crimes committed at MSU and USA Gymnastics have drawn comparisons to coach Jerry Sandusky's sexual abuse crimes at Penn State University. In both of these cases, institutional authorities "turned the other way" or tried to hide the activities of a child molester instead of immediately contacting law enforcement.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette promised a full investigation into how Nassar was able to abuse young women for decades while working at the state's university. MSU agreed to pay $500 million to 332 victims of Nassar, settling lawsuits filed by the victims. This was the largest settlement agreement in history by a university for a sexual abuse case. 

More than 140 survivors of Nassar's abuse appeared on stage together at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, on July 18, 2018, to receive the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the 2018 ESPY Awards ceremony. Gymnasts Sara Klein and Aly Raisman and softball player Tiffany Thomas Lopez accepted on the survivors’ behalf and served as spokeswomen. 

"It is such a privilege to stand up here with my sister survivors as we represent hundreds more who are not with us tonight," Klein said. "Make no mistake, we are here on this stage to present an image for the world to see, a portrait of survival, a new vision of courage." And she did not hold back when it came to calling out the United States Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, and Michigan State University, saying they placed "money and medals above the safety of child athletes."

 

Raisman echoed that sentiment in her speech as she listed the many years, beginning in 1997, that someone spoke up about Nassar's abuse and was not believed "in favor of money, medals, and reputation." She called attention to the inaction of so many over 30 years of Nassar's crimes. "The ripple effect of our actions, or inactions, can be enormous, spanning generations," she said. "Perhaps the greatest tragedy of this nightmare is that it could have been avoided…. All we needed was one adult to have the integrity to stand between us and Larry Nassar. If just one adult had listened, believed, and acted, the people standing before you on this stage would have never met him…. To all the survivors out there, don't let anyone rewrite your story. Your truth does matter. You matter. And you are not alone."

Klein identified herself as Nassar's first victim 30 years before. They credited lead detective Andrea Munford of the Michigan State Police, former assistant Attorney General Angela Povilaitis, and Judge Rosemarie Aquilina of the 30th circuit court in Ingham County, Michigan, for their work. Aquilina also attended the ceremony, and singer MILCK performed her song "Quiet”, written from her own experience of sexual abuse.

In late July 2018, it was reported that Nassar was seeking a new sentencing hearing due to concerns of perceived bias by Judge Aquilina, but his request was later denied by Eaton County Judge Janice Cunningham.

The 2020 Netflix documentary Athlete A is based on Nassar's scandal and crimes.

I love to watch gymnastics, especially during the Olympics.  I feel so much pride for those I know have worked excruciatingly hard and dedicated their life to such a fleeting career. And I felt I needed to tell this story, a story about what can happen in sports when things go terribly wrong. We have to hear it, we have to bear witness to it, to make sure it never happens again.  Abuse. Silence. Victory. Abuse. Silence. Victory. The cycle was repeated for generations.  So let me say this, let us end this cycle now, nothing in this world is worth letting your loved ones be abused by a monster like Larry Nassar.

I’m John Dodson and this has been The Secret Sits.  Audio Engineering by Gabriel Dodson.  Original artwork provided by Tony Ley.