Olympian Sues Michigan State, USA Gymnastics Over Nassar Abuse

Michigan State University, the United States Olympic Committee, and USA Gymnastics are facing another lawsuit from an Olympic gymnast over the abuse she suffered at the hands of Larry Nassar. The suit was filed by Jordyn Wieber who was a member of the Fierce Five team that won gold in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. 

The suit alleges that  Michigan State University and former USA Gymnastic officials, including President Steve Penny and former Chairman Paul Parilla, enabled Nassar's abuse and "turned a blind eye" to his actions. 

"The organizations that were responsible for caring for the plaintiff, and the individuals within those organizations who the plaintiff trusted to keep her safe, knew or should have known that he was molesting athletes but turned a blind eye to these warnings in order to maintain the status quo and in utter dereliction of their legal, moral, and ethical duties to protect the plaintiff."

In a statement, Wieber said "nobody was even concerned whether or not we were being sexually abused," by the former team doctor.

"My teammates and I were subjected Larry Nassar every single month at the national team training center in Texas. He was the only male allowed to be present in the athlete dorm rooms to do whatever he wanted. He was allowed to treat us in hotel rooms alone and without any supervision. Nobody was protecting us from being taken advantage of. Nobody was even concerned whether or not we were being sexually abused. I was not protected. My teammates were not protected."

Weiber joins gymnasts Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and Jamie Dantzscher who also filed a separate lawsuit over the sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of Nassar under the guise of medical care. 

Nassar was recently sentenced to 175 years in prison for sexual assault. He also faces an additional 40-to-125-years on three other counts of sexual assault and a 60-year sentence for federal charges of child pornography. 

 Photo: Getty Images


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