Is There More Happening Behind Closed Doors of USAG?

The counts of assault by Larry Nassar in the last 30 years have just recently come out to the public. This should raise questions. How many more than the 265 survivors that we know of, are there?

Starting his work in 1978 as a student athletic trainer led him down a destructive path working with gymnasts and taking advantage of these injured athletes who gained trust in this man. He began to work for USA Gymnastics in 1988. To the public knowledge as of right now, it seems his first allegation of sexual abuse came from a survivor Olympic medalist. He is said to have began to sexually abuse her in 1994 and the abuse continued for six years, followed by a 2016 lawsuit.

As someone who has been a gymnast since the age of 5 and an instructor for two years at a gym under USAG, I have been immersed in the sport. Gymnastics is uniquely disciplined, dominated by female athletes predominately starting at a young age (typically around 3–5 years old). At this age especially, people are influenced by everyone around them, especially anyone who is of some authority. Athletes are typically taught at a young age to do as they are told, not to ask questions, and are often penalized for any mistakes or questioning of authority. It should be obvious that any employees, coach or sports doctor working with such athletes should be screened and supervised before entering this line of work. Young, vulnerable and trusting young athletes have been taken advantage of for too long.

The authority, dependence and seclusion Larry Nassar had over these gymnasts were all part of a bigger plan to take advantage of these athletes. Especially when they were injured and more defenseless, this demon took that opportunity to take advantage of these girls, sometimes with parents of the child in the same room.

It has come out that there have been documentation of reports of abuse in the past that USAG has swept under the rug and not made the proper actions that they should have.

A FBI agent testified in court that investigators found at least 37,000 images and videos of child pornography on hard drive seized during a search of Nassar’s home.

As of February 1st 2018 a total of 265 people have come forward to declare that they were abused by Larry Nassar. There very well could be more, as it is difficult for survivors of sexual abuse to come forward. What about others working under USAG directly with gymnasts? This should lead to more questions and investigation in order to take toxic people out of the lives of the already traumatized survivors of sexual abuse. Not only that, but to prevent in any way future athletes to experience any type of abuse, and stopping anyone like Larry to step foot in an environment like this ever again.

“Dr. Larry Nassar: A History of Preying on People.” Lansing State Journal, interactives.indystar.com/news/standing/OutofBalance/NassarTimeline/LSJ.html.

“Larry Nassar Has Been Accused of Abuse by 265 People.” Time, Time, time.com/5127119/larry-nassar-how-many-victims/.