Lawyer: Maroney Threat Was Only Dropped After Outrage

Coach tells Nassar to 'go to hell'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 18, 2018 2:21 AM CST
Lawyer: Outrage Forced USA Gymnastics to Drop Maroney Threat
McKayla Maroney at the 2012 Team USA Media Summit in Dallas.   (AP Photo/Victoria Will, File)

USA Gymnastics told McKayla Maroney it wouldn't fine her $100,000 for speaking out against her abuser not because it was the right thing to do, but because public outrage forced the organization to back off, a lawyer for the gymnast says. Attorney John Manly tells USA Today that USA Gymnastics only made its statement after model Chrissy Teigen and others promised to pay Maroney's fine if she made a victim statement about former team doctor Larry Nassar, who has pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexual assault. Maroney is suing USA Gymnastics, saying she was forced into signing a confidentiality agreement as part of a $1.25 million settlement.

"It is truly sad that USA Gymnastics and the USOC didn't and don't get it," Manly says. "They have no choice to relent because the cleansing sunlight of truth is shining upon them and they can no longer hide their misdeeds." More than 100 victims are expected to deliver statements at Nassar's hearing, which will continue for a third day on Thursday. Reuters reports that on Wednesday, a youth gymnastics coach who sent dozens of girls to Nassar for treatment shouted "Look at her" as Nassar kept his head down while victim Gwen Anderson described her abuse. "For the record, go to hell," Thomas Brennan said. He told the judge the guilt he feels for sending girls to Nassar is "hard to fathom." (On Tuesday, a victim told the disgraced physician she was there to "destroy his world.")

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