Judge to Larry Nassar: 'I Just Signed Your Death Warrant'

Sports doctor gets up to 175 years in prison for abusing girls under his care
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 24, 2018 11:48 AM CST
Updated Jan 24, 2018 12:02 PM CST
Larry Nassar Gets Up to 175 Years for Abuse
Larry Nassar looks at the gallery in the court during the sixth day of his sentencing hearing Tuesday Jan. 23, 2018, in Lansing, Mich.   (Dale G.Young/Detroit News via AP)

The former sports doctor who admitted molesting some of the nation's top gymnasts for years was sentenced Wednesday to 40 to 175 years in prison as the judge declared: "I just signed your death warrant." The sentence capped a remarkable seven-day hearing in which scores of Larry Nassar's victims were able to confront him face to face in a Michigan courtroom, per the AP. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said Nassar's "decision to assault was precise, calculated, manipulative, devious, despicable." She added: "It is my honor and privilege to sentence you. You do not deserve to walk outside a prison ever again." Nassar turned to the courtroom gallery to make a brief statement before his sentencing, saying that the accounts of more than 150 victims had "shaken me to my core."

He said "no words" can describe how sorry he is for his crimes. "I will carry your words with me for the rest of my days" he said as many of his accusers wept. Nassar, 54, pleaded guilty to assaulting seven people in the Lansing area, but the sentencing hearing has been open to anyone who said they were a victim. His accusers said he would use his ungloved hands to penetrate them, often without explanation, while they were on a table seeking help for various injuries. Nassar has already been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for child pornography crimes. He is scheduled to be sentenced next week on more assault convictions in Eaton County, Michigan. (More Larry Nassar stories.)

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