By Maggie Foight Nassar was born on August 16, 1963, in Farmington Hills, Michigan. He started his work as an athletic trainer in 1978 at North Farmington High School, specifically for its female gymnastics team. He graduated from the same school in 1981, leaving to study kinesiology at the University of Michigan. Following this, Nassar made his way through several high schools and gymnastics teams, eventually landing himself the job of national medical coordinator for USA Gymnastics in 1996. Amid accusations of sexual abuse in 2015, Nassar lost his job with USA Gymnastics and a little while later, his job at MSU. The start of Nassar’s undoing was the report of his behavior to USA Gymnastics officials on June 17, 2015, by Maggie Nichols and her coach, Sarah Jantzi. As both accusations and information on Nassar’s actions began to grow in detail, every major institution that had connections to Nassar cut ties with him. In Nov. of 2016, Nassar was charged with sexual assault of a child from 1998 to 2005. In Dec., his medical license was revoked. On July 11, 2017, came the guilty plea that he had received child pornography in 2004, possessed child pornography from 2004 to 2016, and tampered with evidence by getting rid of images. A year after the pornography images were first found, Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison. On Nov. 22, 2017, Nassar pleaded guilty in Ingham County Court to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with minors. He pleaded guilty to three additional counts in Eaton County. On Jan. 24, 2018, Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced him to an additional 40 to 175 years in prison for his crimes. On Feb. 5, an Eaton County Circuit Judge sentenced Nassar to an additional 40 to 125 years in prison for the three counts of criminal sexual assault he had pleaded guilty to back in Nov. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina has drawn some attention to herself in the way she conducted her court on Jan. 24. She was unprofessional before giving her decision, saying that if the Constitution allowed cruel and unusual punishment, she would have allowed someone to do to Nassar what he did to those hundreds of women. She said that it was her “privilege… to sentence [him] to 40 years,” and when giving him his final sentence, she said, “Sir, I’m giving you 175 years, which is 2,100 months.” She paused, and then she finished, “I am signing your death warrant.” No judge should be that overwhelmingly improper in their sentencing. Aquilina’s unprincipled commentary and unbefitting remarks, though many may agree with her sentiments, were not appropriate in a court of law. However, Nassar should have been prepared for it, as his infamous reputation precedes him. He completely deserved every ruling made against him, whether it included statements like Alquilina’s or not. As of Jan. 18 of this year, a total of 135 women accused Nassar of sexual assault, but the number rose to 150 the following week. By the end of the month, 265 girls had accused him of sexual misconduct while working with him. It is unacceptable that society has created men like Nassar who take women for granted and trick them into situations, nightmares of which will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Someone, somewhere should have been able to recognize the signs that Nassar was not who he said he was. While defendants of this criminal would believe that his apology in court should have been accepted and the whole case dismissed, that’s not enough. Larry Nassar inflicted emotional and physical torment on these brave women, and he should most definitely not get off on just an apology. The idea makes me sick. Nassar currently resides in the United States Penitentiary in Tucson, Arizona, where he should and will stay behind bars for many years to come. Photos Courtesy Of: mic.com; theguardian.com
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Elena Caputo
Hi! My name is Elena, and I'm a senior at Wilson and one of the Editors of the Editorial section. If you have any questions or ideas or if you want to write, email me at [email protected]! Olivia MonosHello! My name is Olivia and I'm a junior this year, and one of the editors of the Editorial section! I'm really excited to write for the Paw Print again this year!
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