Larry Nassar: A trail of sexual abuse
Here are key dates and events from Larry Nassar’s career and the sexual abuse committed by the onetime sports doctor for Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics:
1978: Nassar begins working with the women’s gymnastics team at North Farmington High School as an athletic trainer.
1981: Nassar graduates from North Farmington High School.
1985: Nassar earns a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology at the University of Michigan.
1986: Nassar begins working with the U.S. national gymnastics team.
What MSU knew: 14 warned of Nassar abuse
1988: Nassar volunteers at Olympic trials for the U.S. team and starts working at the Twistars gymnastics club near Lansing.
1988: Nassar enrolls as a medical school student at Michigan State University.
1992: While in medical school, Nassar assaults his earliest known victim, a 12- to 14-year-old girl, during a study on manipulation treatments for his medical degree, according to a federal lawsuit against him.
1993: Nassar graduates from MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.
1993-96: Nassar does an internship and residency at St. Lawrence Hospital in Lansing.
1997: Nassar is hired as an assistant professor at MSU’s Department of Family and Community Medicine in the College of Osteopathic Medicine.
1997: Nassar sexually assaults Larissa Boyce, a 16-year-old gymnast in an MSU youth program, while treating her for back problems. Boyce says she told two MSU coaches, including head athletic trainer Kathie Klages, that Nassar had been abusing her.
1998: Nassar begins molesting a 6-year-old family friend, Kyle Stephens, according to testimony from Stephens.
1999: Christie Achenbach, a track and cross country runner at MSU, tells her coach, Kelli Bert, that Nassar had rubbed her and inserted his fingers inside her during treatment for a hamstring injury, according to an interview with Achenbach.
2000: Nassar digitally penetrates 15-year-old gymnast Rachael Denhollander during treatment for back pain, according to a federal lawsuit against him.
2000: Tiffany Thomas Lopez, a Spartan softball player, tells two MSU athletic trainers, Lianna Hadden and Destiny Teachnor-Hauk, that Nassar has digitally penetrated her during treatment for lower back pain, according to an interview with her.
2004: Stephens tells her parents Nassar is abusing her; they inform Dr. Gary Stollak, an MSU clinical psychologist, Stephens says.
2004: Brianne Randall-Gay, a 16-year-old soccer and tennis player, reports to Meridian Township police that Nassar touched her bare breast and put his hand between her legs during treatment for back pain. Police do not pursue charges against Nassar.
2014: A woman tells Dr. Jeff Kovan of the MSU Sports Medicine Clinic that Nassar had massaged her breast and around her vaginal area during treatment for hip pain, according to a Title IX report. The MSU investigator notifies Nassar’s boss, Dr. William Strampel, who tells him to limit skin-to-skin contact and have a chaperone during treatments, MSU emails show. The woman files a report with MSU police, but the county prosecutor’s office declines to file charges.
2014: MSU President Lou Anna Simon is informed that a Title IX complaint and a police report had been filed against an unnamed physician.
2016: Denhollander files a police report, makes a Title IX complaint and details how Nassar sexually assaulted her in an interview with the Indianapolis Star. The revelations lead MSU to fire Nassar, who is later charged with criminal sexual conduct.
2017: Nassar is convicted of sexual abuse charges plus federal charges of possessing child pornography. He is sentenced to 60 years in prison on the federal charges. Former Olympic gymnasts Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman accuse Nassar of sexually abusing them.
2018: Nassar faces sentencing in two courts on 10 counts of criminal sexual conduct. In the first case, prosecutors request a sentence of 40 to 125 years. Former Olympic gymnast Simone Biles accuses Nassar of sexually assaulting her.
What MSU knew: 14 were warned of Nassar abuse
Judge rebukes Nassar over 'mental health' woes
Source: Detroit News staff reports