Larry Nassar, the former doctor for the U.S. Gymnastics Team, has been stabbed multiple times in a Florida prison.
Nassar was sentenced to prison for 175 years after he sexually abused girls and women – up to 330 – while working in his clinic at Michigan State University.
Nassar pleaded guilty as well to possessing child pornography.
Prison officials report that Nassar was stabbed twice in the neck, twice in the back, and six times in the chest. The attack left him with a collapsed lung.
A Federal Bureau of Prisons staff member told BBC News that “responding staff immediately implemented life-saving measures.” Nassar, he added, was then taken to the hospital “for additional treatment and evaluation.”
The FBI is being sued by many of Nassar’s victims including Olympic gold medalists McKayla Maroney and Simone Biles. Claimants claim that the FBI made mistakes and ignored allegations, allowing Nassar’s assaults on young women to continue for more than a year following the start of the 2015 investigation. The FBI has also been accused of covering up various crimes during the investigation.
A report by the Office of the Inspector General shows that the Indianapolis FBI, where the initial allegations against Nassar came from, claimed to have sent information about Nassar to the Detroit FBI, but failed to do so.
The FBI’s inaction for eight months led USA Gymnastics officials to meet with FBI agents at their Los Angeles office. Nassar assaulted girls for the duration of his tenure. He continued to do so for several months.
The Michigan State University Police found 37,000 images of child pornography in Nassar’s house.
The OIG found that a Wall Street Journal journalist contacted the FBI. The reporter concluded that either USA Gymnastics was lying and did not report the Nassar allegations to the FBI immediately or the FBI had not contacted the complainants/victims of Nassar for at least one year. This seems like an extremely long time, especially for such serious accusations.
The FBI acknowledged that their actions were “inexcusable” and a “discredit” to the organization, but it’s not clear if anyone has been fired.
USA Gymnastics has agreed to pay $380 million in total to the victims. Michigan State University agreed to pay $500,000,000 to victims after being accused of allowing abuse to occur.
Rachael Denhollander, Nassar’s first victim, responded to the stabbing incident by tweeting several things, including:
Justice is conformity to what is right. It should be pursued and fought for.
Forgiveness is releasing personal vengeance and desiring for the offender to find true repentance and peace.
I am holding both especially today. https://t.co/5LREwJZ6O6
— Rachael Denhollander (@R_Denhollander) July 10, 2023
In 2021, an Associated Press report revealed that the federal prison system suffered from a shortage of 6,000 staff members. This is roughly 1/3 of its entire workforce. Prisons began using teachers, nurses, and cooks to perform guard duties.
Nassar’s condition was stable and he is expected to survive.
