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A6 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 23 February 2017
‘Monster’ ex-USA Gymnastics doctor charged with sex assault

MIKE HOUSEHOLDER like a god to the gymnasts.
ED WHITE ... Because it was happen-
Associated Press ing to all of them, they
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — thought it was normal,”
A Michigan sports doc- Munford said.
tor who treated elite fe- Munford said Nassar some-
male U.S. gymnasts was times gave gifts to girls to
charged Wednesday with keep their confidence,
sexually assaulting nine including leotards and
girls, including some too re- pins from the Olympics.
luctant to speak up about One victim quoted Nas-
the alleged abuse years sar as saying, “We don’t
ago because he was con- tell parents about this be-
sidered a “god.” cause they wouldn’t un-
Roughly two dozen charg- derstand,” a reference to
es were filed against Dr. vaginal penetration.
Larry Nassar, the first crimi- Schuette said more charg-
nal cases related to his es are coming. Michigan
work at Michigan State Uni- State University Police Chief
versity where he was the James Dunlap said he has
preferred doctor for gym- more than a dozen people
nasts in the region who had working on the Nassar in-
back or hip injuries. He’s Dr. Larry Nassar, center, and his attorneys, Shannon Smith and Matt Newburg, listen to Judge vestigation.
also being sued by dozens Donald Allen Jr. rule that Nassar, a former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics sports Nassar suddenly came
of women and girls, includ- doctor, should stand trial on sexual assault charges during a hearing in Lansing, Mich. under intense scrutiny
ing 2000 Olympian Jamie (Robert Killips/Lansing State Journal via AP) last summer when former
Dantzscher, who described gymnasts accused him of
the assaults on “60 Minutes” ber after he violated restric- nearby in Eaton County, “Dr. Nassar used his status abuse, following an August
Sunday. tions that were put in place where Nassar saw injured and authority to engage in report in the Indianapolis
“This guy is disgusting. This in 2014 following a com- girls at Gedderts’ Twistars horrid sexual assaults under Star about how USA Gym-
guy is despicable,” Michi- plaint. Club, a gymnastics club. the guise of medical pro- nastics handled sexual
gan Attorney General Bill Nassar’s attorneys declined He’s accused of sticking cedures,” Schuette said. abuse complaints against
Schuette told reporters. to comment Wednesday. his fingers in their vagi- A girl identified as Victim coaches and others.
“He is a monster.” He has denied abuse, and, nas, without gloves, during B, now 21, said she was Lawyers suing Michigan
Nassar, 53, was a doctor in an email last fall to his treatments for various inju- sexually assaulted by Nas- State on behalf of victims
for Indianapolis-based USA Michigan State bosses, ries. Parents were asked to sar “’more times than she have accused the univer-
Gymnastics, until summer said, leave the room or Nassar could count,’” Det. Sgt. An- sity of failing to do more to
2015, accompanying the “I will overcome this.” used a sheet or stood in a drea Munford wrote in an prevent Nassar’s alleged
women’s team at interna- The charges were filed in position to block any view, affidavit. acts. In court filings, gym-
tional competitions, includ- two cases: one in Ingham police said. Two girls were “Victim B stated that she nastics coach Kathie Klag-
ing the Olympics. Michigan County, the home of Michi- under age 13, and seven and all the gymnasts trust- es is accused of downplay-
State fired him last Septem- gan State, and the other were 13 to 16. ed Nassar and that he was ing complaints about him

Man convicted of bridge throwing death of baby son in the late 1990s.
Michigan State is conduct-
ing an internal investiga-
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (AP) old Aaden off the Arrigoni lationship with the boy’s sages between Moreno tion of Nassar’s work.
— A man charged with Bridge, which spans the mother, prosecutors said. and Oyola as evidence, in- “I am deeply troubled by
throwing his baby son off Connecticut River be- The mother, 20-year-old cluding one in which in re- the emerging details and
a 90-foot-high bridge to his tween Middletown and Adrianne Oyola, testified sponse to a question about recognize the courage
death was convicted of Portland, on July 15, 2015, that things got worse when Aaden’s whereabouts it takes to come forward
murder on Wednesday. and then jumped, intend- she refused his marriage Moreno wrote: “He’s dead. with information about per-
Tony Moreno was convict- ing to kill himself, prosecu- proposal a month before Soon I will be too.” sonally traumatic events,”
ed by a jury that deliberat- tors said. the baby’s death. The two A crying Moreno testified in President Lou Anna Simon
ed for a short time Tuesday Moreno, who is from Mid- shared custody of Aaden. his own defense, saying the said Wednesday.
afternoon and Wednesday dletown, spent several A police officer and a hos- baby slipped from his arms Besides the new criminal
morning. The 23-year-old days in a hospital. Aaden’s pital psychiatrist testified and he never intended to cases, Nassar faces charg-
faces up to 70 years at pris- body was found by a kay- that Moreno made state- harm him. es in two cases that were
on when he’s sentenced in aker 14 miles downstream ments indicating he had Defense attorney Norman filed in 2016 and are unre-
May. two days later. killed the child. Prosecutors Pattis said the verdict was lated to his work as a doc-
Moreno threw 7-month- Moreno had a strained re- also introduced text mes- disappointing.q tor. q