INGHAM COUNTY (WKZO AM/FM) — It’s going to be a long week for Larry Nassar. Court officials in Ingham County have set aside several days for an unusual extended sentencing hearing to allow victim impact statements from the young female athletes he has confessed to molesting.
125 were given the opportunity and at least 88 have requested time during the hearing to personally confront the former MSU and US Gymnastics Team doctor.
Among them will be Kalamazoo native Racheal Denhollander who says it’s important that the court hears the consequences of his actions. Denhollander, who was the first to report Nassar to the police, will speak toward the end. She is now a lawyer in Kentucky.
Nassar faces up to life for seven counts of criminal sexual conduct agreed to in a plea bargain. This week, five-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles released a statement on her social media accounts, saying she too was a victim of his medical malpractice.
Gubernatorial Candidate Gretchen Whitmer, who was in on the early prosecution of Larry Nasar when she was interim Ingham County Prosecutor says an independent investigation is needed sof what went on at Michigan State University all these years that Nassar was practicing his sexually abusive medical procedures on young female athletes.
Whitmer, who received an endorsement from the state’s largest Teacher’s union this weeksays criticism from opponents who say she didn’t do enough to investigate Nassar, just don’t understand how the system works.
