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THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
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Among the missed opportunities to address alleged complaints involving Nassar: › In late 1997 or mid-1998, a gymnast alleges she complained to MSU gymnastics coach Kathie Klages, while the gymnast was part of a youth gymnastics program Klages instructed, according to the gymnast’s allegations in the lawsuit. The gymnast, a teenager at the time, claims in the lawsuit she was “concerned” about Nassar’s treatments. Klages discouraged her from filing a formal complaint and informed Nassar of the conversation, according to the court filing. Klages did not return requests for comment. › In 1997, a parent complained to Twistars owner John Geddert about Nassar’s medical treatments, according to one lawsuit. Geddert not only failed to investigate, but continued to recommend Nassar as a physician, the suit claims. › In 1999, an MSU track and cross country runner told a staff member of the athletic program and athletic trainers that Nassar was penetrating her vagina during treatment for an injured hamstring, according to her lawsuit, which identifies her as Jane X Doe. The suit alleges the coach and trainers told her that Nassar was “an Olympic doctor” and “knew what he was doing.” › In 1999 and again in 2000, when Lopez was a MSU softball player, she told three MSU athletic trainers that Nassar was sexually inappropriate during medical treatments, Lopez told MLive. The trainers dismissed her concerns, and one of them told Lopez that she should feel grateful to be treated by a world-renowned doctor, Lopez said. › In 2000, Rachael Denhollander says she was abused by Nassar when she was a 15-year-old Kalamazoo gymnast treated at MSU’s sports-medicine clinic. When she told a Kalamazoo-area gymnastics coach about the alleged abuse four years later, the coach suggested Denhollander keep quiet, Denhollander said. (MLive does not usually name alleged victims in sex-abuse cases, but Denhollander and Lopez are allowing their names to be used.) › In 2004, the family friend in Nassar’s criminal assault case told a counselor about the alleged abuse, according to an Ingham County court document. The counselor had the 12-yearold girl and her parents meet with Nassar, who denied the allegations, and the girl’s parents forced her to recant; the girl later told “multiple therapists and counselors” about the abuse, the document says. There is no record of anyone calling law enforcement about the allegations, although state law mandates mental-health counselors to report child sexual abuse. › In 2004, a criminal complaint was filed with Meridian Township police by a Nassar patient alleging sexual abuse. Police are not commenting now on why they closed the case without seeking criminal charges. › In 2014, a second police report filed by a different woman with MSU police alleged abuse during medical treatment. The case was referred to the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office, which declined to press charges after they recognized it as a legitimate medical procedure. › In the summer of 2015, USA Gymnastics quietly cut ties with Nassar after hearing of “athlete concerns.” But MSU says it was never told of those concerns, and Nassar continued to practice at MSU’s sports clinic for another year, as well as treating girls from Twistars and Holt High School. Kiki Wixsom, director of the Twistars DeWitt facility, said Nassar “has never been an employee with Twistars” and said she was not allowed to comment further. Owner John Geddert did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Holt Public Schools officials said they ended Nassar’s contract in September 2016 when they first heard about allegations of sexual abuse from news reports. Superintendent Dave Hornak said student athletes were encouraged to report any misconduct, but to his knowledge no Holt students have come forward with complaints against Nassar. USA Gymnastics said in a statement the organization contacted the FBI “immediately” in 2015 after it learned of allegations and relieved Nassar of duties, but declined further comment. Denhollander said she hesitated to contact police for more than 15 years because “I was 100 percent confident that I would not be believed.” Nassar “was (MSU’s) golden boy. He was USAG’s golden boy,” she said. “He was so loved in the community that I was very sure … I would be crucified and he would end up empowered to know he couldn’t get caught. “What breaks my heart more than anything,” she said, “is that all these women who came forward and did what I didn’t do, that’s exactly what happened to them.” Denhollander finally came forward in August 2016 after she read an Indianapolis Star expose on USA Gymnastics’ alleged mishandling of sexual-abuse allegations. Nassar wasn’t mentioned in the Star’s August report. But Denhollander thought the investigation offered an opportunity to bring Nassar to justice. She contacted the Indianapolis Star and the police, which led to a Sept. 12 news story in which Denhollander and another woman, a former Olympic medalist, detailed their alleged abuse by Nassar. The story sparked a flood of SEE SILENT, D3
Rachael Denhollander Emily Rose Bennett, MLive.com
Julie Mack jmack1@mlive.com
R
achael Denhollander still recalls her first appointment with Dr. Larry Nassar — the signed photos of Olympic stars in his East Lansing office, the warm and engaging personality, the confidence he could make her better. And she recalls
the shock of what she called a sexual violation in a manner so “bold” and “brazen” that it occurred in front of her unsuspecting mother.
Those alleged assaults occurred 17 years ago, when Nassar was a nationally renowned sports-medicine doctor and Denhollander was one of his patients, a Kalamazoo 15-year-old with chronic wrist and back problems. Today, Nassar, 53, is in federal custody on receipt and possession of child pornography charges, and faces three charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a family friend allegedly abused from the age of 6 until she was 12. Dozens of other women have filed criminal and/or civil complaints alleging sexual abuse or other misconduct dating back to at least 1994 and continuing into 2016. Denhollander, 32, now a wife and mother living in Kentucky, is one of his most public accusers. Nassar has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges. His attorney declined comment for this story, and neither Nassar nor his attorney have responded to civil lawsuits. Denhollander’s story starts in January 2000, when Nassar, then 36, was making a name for himself in the gymnastics world. He was the team doctor for U.S. gymnasts at the 1996 Olympic games, and in 2000 was getting ready to reprise that role at the Olympic games in Sydney. Denhollander wasn’t an elite athlete but a teenager in need of a good sports doctor. A Kalamazoo homeschooler, her injuries were keeping her out of club gymnastics, and Kalamazoo doctors had nothing to recommend beyond rest. Denhollander and her mom, Camille Moxon, were thrilled to get an appointment with Nassar at MSU’s sports-medicine clinic. “What an opportunity” to see such a prominent physician who specialized in treating gymnasts, Denhollander recalls. “He was essentially the gold standard. If you were injured and wanted to get better, or wanted to avoid injury, you went to see Dr. Nassar.”
SEE ONE, D3
THE RISE AND FALL Dr. Larry Nassar’s sports-medicine career took him to the Olympics. Along the way, he garnered honors — and allegations that have cost him his positions.
1993
1985
Graduates U-M: Nassar earns bachelor’s in kinesiology from University of Michigan, where he was a trainer for the football team.
1986
Joins USA Gymnastics: Nassar starts as trainer for U.S. gymnastics team. Later, he also starts working with the Twistars gymnastics club in the Lansing area. Gymnast David Sender, center, is helped off the mat by Don Rackey, left, and Dr. Larry Nassar, right, after being injured during practice for the U.S. Olympic gymnastic trials, June 18, 2008, in Philadelphia. Rob Carr, AP files
At that first appointment, Nassar did a thorough exam of Denhollander and recommended myofascial release, a type of massage to loosen the muscles. But first, he said, he wanted to re-align her hips. Nassar had Denhollander stand next to the exam table with her legs apart, she recalled. While massaging her hip area with one hand, Nassar slipped his other hand up her shorts and underwear and, without warning, used two fingers to digitally penetrate her vagina, Denhollander said. She recalls being shocked and surprised, but she said nothing. “I thought that was a little odd, because I knew there were other ways to align hips,” she said. “But I’m seeing the best of the best. I’m seeing him because other doctors don’t have these specialized techniques that he has.” “Then he told me he wanted to do myofascial release on my back and had me lie down on the table, on my stomach,” Denhollander recalled. With his right hand and right forearm, “he did legitimate myofascial techniques, massage techniques, on my hips and back,” Denhollander said. “But with his left hand, he inserted two fingers vaginally,” she said. Using a deep “thrusting and sweeping motion,” the penetration continued for the length of the myofascial massage, for 20 to 40 minutes, Denhollander said. It was simply not possible, she thought initially, that it might be sexual abuse. “I can’t be the only one,” Denhollander said she told herself. “This was clearly something he does regularly. He was very sure, very practiced; it was very clearly standard procedure. It’s not possible for him to be doing this regularly, and for MSU and (USA Gymnastics) to be unaware of it.
1991
World championships: Nassar accompanies U.S. gymnastics team to world championships, the first of six consecutive trips.
1993
National honor: U.S. Elite Coaches Association for Women’s Gymnastics honors Nassar as national contributor, the first such award for a non-coach. He wins it five more times, the latest in 2001.
Osteopathic degree: Nassar graduates from Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathy and starts fouryear residency in sports and family medicine.
1994
Earliest report: A California woman claims she was sexually abused by Nassar as an adolescent on the U.S. team from 1994 to 2000, according to her 2016 lawsuit.
1996
Olympics team doctor: Nassar is named national medical director for USA Gymnastics and team doctor for Atlanta Olympics, the first of four stints.
1997
Alleged complaint at gym: A lawsuit filed in January in Grand Rapids on behalf of 18 women alleges that a parent complained in 1997 to Twistars owner John Geddert about Nassar’s treatments.
1997
Joins MSU faculty: Nassar named associate professor of osteopathic medicine at Michigan State, including duties in sport-medicine clinics and as team physician for women’s gymnastics and crew. He also becomes team doctor at Holt High School.
1999
Alleged complaints to MSU: In the spring, MSU softball player Tiffany Thomas Lopez asks trainer about Nassar penetrating her vagina during medical treatments, according to Lopez’s lawsuit. In the fall, a field hockey player complains to a staff member and trainers about Nassar penetrating her vagina during medical treatments, according to her “Jane Doe” lawsuit, filed in January. Both say they are told the treatment is appropriate.