Larry Nassar: who is disgraced ex US Gymnastics doctor and what did he do, as survivors reach $380m settlement

For 18 years Larry Nassar was the team doctor of the United States women’s national gymnastics team.

Over that time, between 1998 and 2015, Nassar was found to have sexually assaulted dozens of girls and young women who put their trust in him.

In January 2018, he was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for abusing his position which gave him regular contact with the US’s elite young gymnasts.

Now survivors, including McKayla Maroney and Simone Biles, have reached a $380 million settlement with USA Gymnastics, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee and their insurers.

Who is Larry Nassar?

A graduate from the University of Michigan, Larry Nassar joined the USA Gymnastics team a year later in 1986 and also ran a clinic at Michigan State University.

He reportedly earned more than $100,000 a year and is listed as a co-author on no fewer than six research papers on the treatment of gymnastics injuries.

Both USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University cut ties with Nassar in 2015.

Nassar married in 1996 but he and his wife separated after he was arrested on suspicion of sex crimes, and his wife was granted a divorce with full custody of their three children in July 2017.

What did Larry Nassar do?

Larry Nassar abused his position as USA Gymnastics doctor to sexually abuse hundreds of young girls and women between 1998 and 2015.

In January 2018, he was sentenced to 40 to 175 years behind bars for sex abuse and possessing sex abuse images on his computer.

At the time of his sentencing the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) apologised to the survivors in an open letter to Team USA athletes.

Resignations followed at the top of the USOC and the need for a culture change "that fosters safe sport practice" was called for in the wake of Nassar’s sentencing.

What’s been said after the settlement was reached?

The $380m settlement for Larry Nassar’s survivors brings a five year legal wrangle to an end.

Lawyer for the plaintiffs John Manly said: "This settlement is the result of the bravery of hundreds of survivors who, despite legal obstacles, long odds and the best corporate legal talent money can buy, refused to be silent. The power of their story eventually won the day."

McKayla Maroney, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols were among the gymnasts to testify before the US Senate on the abuse they received from Larry Nassar.

The high-profile and highly decorated athletes criticised USA Gymnastics and Olympic officials for failing to stop Nassar, and found fault with the FBI’s troubled investigations into the former doctor’s actions.

The first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of abuse, Rachael Denhollander, admitted her relief at the end of the fight for compensation.

"This chapter is finally closed. Now the hard work of reform and rebuilding can begin. Whether or not justice comes, and change is made, depends on what happens next," Denhollander tweeted.

"Justice has been done insofar as it can be, and it is good that we rejoice in that. But remember that tomorrow everyone wakes up still living the consequences. Don’t lose that reality in the midst of sober rejoicing in the truth."

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