Victim Describes Nassar Abuse Starting When She Was 6

I'm here to 'destroy your world,' Kyle Stephens tells disgraced ex-Team USA coach in court
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 17, 2018 9:40 AM CST
Victim Tells Nassar: I'm Here to 'Destroy Your World'
Former family friend to the Nassar family, Kyle Stevens, right, addresses Larry Nassar on Tuesday.   (Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal via AP)

"Little girls don't stay little forever. They grow into strong women that return to destroy your world" and "I have been coming for you for a long time," Kyle Stephens told disgraced ex-USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar on Tuesday. Revealing her identity for the first time, Stephens described herself as the first person to speak out against Nassar, a family friend who began assaulting her when she was in kindergarten, reports the Washington Post. She was also the first of two dozen victims to address the 54-year-old Tuesday as part of a four-day sentencing hearing in Michigan, per Sports Illustrated. Serving 60 years on child porn charges, Nassar could face another 125 years after pleading guilty to first-degree sexual conduct with minors. Staring down Nassar, who covered his eyes, Stephens described how he'd exposed himself to her when she was 6.

Stephens said he later masturbated in front of her, rubbed his genitalia on her feet, and used his fingers to penetrate her vagina. Stephens said her parents didn't believe her when she told them what was happening. She said she replayed the abuse "so I didn't forget that I was not a liar" and was forced to "babysit for the Nassars to pay for my own counseling." Years later in 2016, Stephens' father committed suicide after coming to believe his daughter. "Had he not had to bear the shame and self-loathing that stemmed from his defense of Larry Nassar, I believe he would have had a fighting chance for life," Stephens said. In equally moving testimony, Donna Markham told how her daughter, Chelsey, committed suicide in 2009 following abuse by Nassar, reports Sports Illustrated. Addressing him felt like "the last thing I could do for her," Markham said. (More Larry Nassar stories.)

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