Disgraced Ex-Doctor Sobs At Sentencing Hearing

(20 Jan 2018) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus090948

Disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar broke down Friday as one of his victims spoke during the fourth day of his sentencing for sexually assaulting young gymnasts and others under the guise of medical treatment.
Nassar, who was shaking, took off his glasses and wiped away tears multiple times as longtime family friend Trinea Gonczar (TRIH'-nay GON'-zar) delivered her victim impact statement.
"I don't know who you are now. Maybe I never knew. Maybe none of us did," Gonczar told a visibly emotional Nassar, who at other times has looked down or blankly at victims giving statements.
More than 80 women and girls whom Nassar abused under the guise of medical treatment have stood before the court in Lansing, Michigan, during a marathon sentencing hearing that began Tuesday, describing with eloquence and sometimes tears the harm Nassar did and the impact he has had on their lives.
Some family members also have spoken, including Doug Powell, the father of victim Kassie Powell.
The elder Powell angrily told Nassar on Friday that his daughter's abuser should be known as "Inmate Nassar."
That is what your name is. And don't you forget that," Doug Powell said.
Meanwhile, Kassie Powell, a former track and field athlete at Michigan State, told Nassar that although he had hidden behind "a Spartan head," the school's mascot, "there is now nowhere left for you to hide, Larry."
Nassar pleaded guilty to molesting girls at his MSU office, at home and at a Lansing-area gymnastics club, sometimes with a parent present. Already sentenced to 60 years in prison on a separate federal child pornography conviction, the 54-year-old man can expect to be behind bars for the rest of his life.
The hearing will resume next week.

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