FORMER US gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar has been sentenced to 60 years in jail on child pornography charges.
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On Thursday, Judge Janet Neff in Grand Rapids, Michigan said there was a link between Nassar’s child-pornography activities and his “prolific molestation of children,” according to court documents.
Neff is reported as saying: “He has demonstrated that he should never again have access to children.
“You have to wonder whether he felt he was omnipotent, whether he felt he was getting away with something so cleverly.”
Nassar, 54, pleaded guilty in July to possessing thousands of images and videos of child pornography depicting children as young as infants between 2003 and 2016.
Investigators found more than 37,000 images of child porn on Nassar’s electronic devices in 2016.
Separately, he has pleaded guilty to molesting gymnasts with his hands in the Lansing, Michigan, area under the guise of treatment.
He is set to be sentenced in January.
He previously told the court: “I’m so sorry that this was like a match that turned into a forest fire, out of control.
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“I want them to heal. I want this community to heal. I have no animosity toward any one. I just want healing. It’s time.”
Judge Rosemarie Aquilina had said: “You used that position of trust that you had in the most vile way – to abuse children.
“You violated the oath that you took, which is to do no harm, and you harmed them. Selfishly.”
Nassar has been accused of abusing more than 130 women – including Olympic gold medalists Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney.
A number of the accusers testified they were abused during examinations – some while the young athletes’ parents were nearby.
London 2012 champion Douglas said: “I didn’t publicly share my experiences as well as many other things because for years we were conditioned to stay silent and some things were extremely painful.”
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Judge Aquilina asked if he wore gloves while abusing his victims between 1998 and his sacking in 2015.
She asked: “The examinations were not for any medical purposes is that right? It was for your own purpose, is that right?”
He replied: “Yes.”
The former doctor – who was stripped of his licence – is due to be sentenced on 12 January.
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