Nassar victims bring fight to Washington

Victims fight to change laws

WASHINGTON – Several victims of former sports physician Larry Nassar will be in Washington on Tuesday to meet with representatives and senators. 

They will be joined by Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a former U.S. Olympian turned lawyer and advocate for sexual abuse victims. The group is pushing for more action and investigation into how USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee handled the Nassar case. 

This comes as the U.S. House approved the "Nassar Bill," which strengthens rules on reporting sexual abuse and outlines who can be with children. 

"Coaches and adults should not be alone with children. They need to be in an observable and interruptable distance from everybody else," said Hogshead-Makar. 

Lawmakers also are asking for further investigation and want Congress to begin a probe. Hogshead-Makar said if those congressional investigations start it will be an eye-opener for a lot of people. 

"They've known about the problems of sexual abuse in sports. We know that from the International Olympic Committee which has done research showing the more elite the athlete the more likely they are to be abused by somebody within their own entourage," she said. 

Another sentencing for Nassar

Meanwhile, Nassar faces an additional sentencing in Eaton County, Mich, after he pleaded guilty to three more criminal sexual conduct charges. He faced 13 counts of criminal sexual conduct in Eaton County, but accepted a plea agreement that reduced six charges and dropped four.

The sentencing is expected to begin Jan. 31 in Eaton County. He faces a minimum of 25 years in prison. The sentencing was supposed to last just one day, but now more victims have come forward.

The sentencing is now expected to last three or four days.


About the Author:

Koco joined the Local 4 News team in September of 2016. She was born and raised in Metro Detroit, attended Central Michigan University, and previously worked at WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids.