Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney came forward this week to say she is one of the victims of former USA gymnastics doctor accused of molesting more than 100 female athletes.
Maroney, 21, named convicted sex offender Dr Larry Nassar as her repeat abuser on Tuesday, saying he molested her from the age of 13 until she left gymnastics last year.
She opened up about the experiences in a tweet inspired by the ‘Me Too’ movement, which encouraged women to identify themselves as victims of sexual harassment or assault following the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
Nassar is currently in prison in Michigan after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography in July. He is still awaiting trial on separate criminal sexual conduct charges in addition to being sued by over 125 women in civil court who claim he sexually assaulted them.
Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney named convicted sex offender former USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar as her repeat abuser from the age of 13 until the left the sport last year
Nassar is currently in prison in Michigan after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography in July. He is still awaiting trial on separate criminal sexual conduct charges in addition to being sued by over 125 women in civil court who claim he sexually assaulted them
Maroney said that she was abused at the London Olympics more than once. She’s pictured above accepting a silver medal during the games
Maroney claims that Nassar, who spent nearly 30 years as an osteopath with the USA Gymnastics program, molested her for years, starting at her first National Team training camp in Texas.
‘Dr. Nassar told me that I was receiving “medically necessary treatment that he had been performing on patients for over 30 years”,’ Maroney said of her abuse.
‘It seemed whenever and wherever this man could find the chance, I was ‘treated’,’ she added. It happened in London before my team and I won the gold medal, and It happened before I won my Silver.’
Maroney claims that the worst abuse happened during the 2011 world gymnastics championships in Tokyo.
She wrote that Nassar had given her a sleeping pill on the flight to the Japanese city, and she didn’t wake until she was in his hotel room, alone, where he was performing a ‘treatment’.
Maroney, 21, opened up about the experiences in a tweet inspired by the ‘Me Too’ movement, which encouraged women to identify themselves as victims of sexual harassment or assault following the Harvey Weinstein scandal
‘I thought I was going to die that night,’ Maroney wrote.
Maroney offered a number of ways to end abuse and bring awareness to the issue, including holding people and organizations accountable and having zero tolerance for such incidents.
Nassar, meanwhile, is still awaiting trial on criminal sexual conduct charges in addition to being sued by over 125 women in civil court who claim he sexually assaulted them.
The disgraced doctor has pleaded not guilty to the assault charges and the dozens of civil suits filed in Michigan are currently in mediation.
Several alleged victims have come forward to say that Nassar abused them, including 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Jamie Dantzscher.
USA Gymnastics launched an independent review of its policies in the wake of the allegations against Nassar and reporting by the Indianapolis Star that highlighted chronic mishandling of abuse allegations against coaches and staff at some of its over 3,500 clubs across the country.
In June the federation immediately adopted 70 recommendations proffered by Deborah Daniels, a former federal prosecutor who oversaw the review.
Maroney claims that Nassar molested her for years, starting at her first National Team training camp in Texas. She said that the worst abuse happened during the 2011 world gymnastics championships in Tokyo (pictured above)
She wrote that Nassar had given her a sleeping pill on the flight to Tokyo, and she didn’t wake until she was in his hotel room, alone, where he was performing a ‘treatment’. Maroney is pictured above at the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo
The new guidelines require member gyms to go to authorities immediately, with Daniels suggesting USA Gymnastics consider withholding membership from clubs who decline to do so.
The organization also named Toby Stark, a child welfare advocate, as its director of SafeSport. Part of Stark’s mandate is educating members on rules, educational programs, reporting and adjudication services.
Nassar served as the US gymnastics team’s doctor through four Olympic Games.
In a week of hearings in late June, witnesses testified that Nassar, using his position as a team doctor, molested and penetrated girls with his fingers under the guise of providing medical care.
‘He convinced these girls that this was some type of legitimate treatment,’ the prosecutor said.
‘Why would they question this gymnastics god?’
Nassar served as the US gymnastics team’s doctor through four Olympic Games. In a week of hearings in late June, witnesses testified that Nassar, using his position as a team doctor, molested and penetrated girls with his fingers under the guise of providing medical care
The case cast a dark shadow on the country’s vaunted youth gymnastics program, which has produced a steady stream of world and Olympic champions.
Reacting to the news earlier this year, USA Gymnastics said it was ‘outraged that a physician would exploit his patients in the manner alleged’, and described Nassar’s behavior as ‘appalling and heartbreaking’.
It added it had ‘cooperated fully with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies’.
USA Gymnastics, the US Olympic Committee, and some of the country’s most prominent gymnastic clubs known for training Olympic champions, have nevertheless been sued for allegedly hiding and protecting sexual abusers, including Nassar.
Also sued is Michigan State University, where coaches and trainers were allegedly told about Nassar’s abuse as early as 1999 but took no action.