After seven days of gut-wrenching testimony from more than 150 women and girls molested by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, the disgraced physician was sentenced Wednesday, January 24, to 40 to 175 years in prison. “I just signed your death warrant,” declared Michigan Judge Rosemarie Aquilina. She continued: “It is my honor and privilege to sentence you. You do not deserve to walk outside a prison ever again.”
But six-time Olympic medalist Aly Raisman, who was a victim of 45-year-old Nassar, isn’t celebrating. “It’s not something where you just instantly feel better,” Raisman, 23, revealed during a Thursday, January 25, appearance on Today. “This is bigger than Larry Nassar. We have to get to the bottom of how this disaster happened.”
During the sentencing Nassar apologized to his victims, which include former patients Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas and McKayla Marony, but Raisman was not moved in the least. “The fact he wrote a letter to the judge saying it was unfair and that he shouldn’t have to listen to us all speak . . . He deserves to suffer,” she said on Today. “I mean, it’s disgusting what happened.”
Raisman tweeted a lengthy letter on Wednesday, where she praised Judge Aquilina for her compassion. “I am forever grateful that all of our voices are finally heard,” she wrote. “Thank you or listening to us all.”
Biles also took to Twitter to express her gratitude. “To Judge Aquilina: THANK YOU, YOU ARE MY HERO,” began the Dancing With the Stars alum, 20. “Shout out to all the survivors for being brave & speaking like the queens that you are while looking at that monster. He will no longer have the power to steal our happiness or joy. I stand with every one of you.”
Lindsay Lemke tweeted, a stern warning: “One down, hope the rest of you a ready . . .”
Nassar was working at Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians, when he molested the young athletes.
When the hearing ended on Wednesday, the courtroom erupted in applause.
