Ex-MSU Gymnastics Doctor Set For December Trial On Molestation Charges
LANSING (WWJ/AP) - A judge has set a Dec. 4 trial date for a former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor accused of molesting several female athletes.
Dr. Larry Nassar of Holt faces 15 first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges in Ingham County. They had been divided into two separate cases, but Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina consolidated them in setting the trial date. She set Dec. 1 as the cutoff for plea negotiations.
Nassar also faces seven first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges in Eaton County. No trial date has been set in that case.
Nassar has pleaded not guilty. His attorney has said Nassar intends to proceed to trial.
The gymnasts consistently said that Nassar penetrated them with his ungloved hands, sometimes while their parents were in the room, at his Michigan State clinic, his home and at a Lansing-area gymnastics club. Some allegations go back to 2000.
Many of the women have the same allegations: During the course of Nassar's treatments, the doctor allegedly inserted "his bare, ungloved and unlubricated hand" into the victim's vagina, according to the complaint. When one woman reported Nassar's disturbing "treatments" to the MSU training staff, she was allegedly told that Nassar was a world-renowned doctor and that his "inter‐vaginal adjustments" were legitimate medical treatments. The alleged incidents took place at his Michigan State clinic, his home and at a Lansing-area gymnastics club. Some allegations go back to 2000.
Nassar is also being sued by more than 100 women or girls over similar allegations.
Separately, he will be sentenced Nov. 27 in federal court in Grand Rapids after pleading guilty on July 11 to three child pornography charges. The plea agreement calls for a prison sentence of five to 20 years in that case.
He remains jailed without bond.
Nassar was fired from Michigan State University in September 2016, and USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians, cut ties in 2015.
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