Michigan State investigator finds Larry Nassar assaulted girl
Former Michigan State doctor Dr. Larry Nassar was found to have sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl in 2000, according to the findings of a campus Title IX investigator.
The findings were found in documents obtained by the Lansing State Journal.
An original complaint was filed to the Michigan State Police Department last August against Nassar by Rachael Denhollander, a club-level gymnast in 2000. Denhollander has sued Michigan State and Nassar.
Nassar has denied assaulting anyone, but according to the Title IX investigator, she found Nassar's "denial to be unpersuasive where there is corroborating evidence to support Claimant Denhollander's allegations
Nassar, also a former USA Gymnastics team doctor, has been accused of sexual assault by more than 80 women and girls. He was charged in November with three counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13 and faces life in prison if convicted. Nasser pleaded not guilty to the charges.
More than 70 women have filed suit against him in federal and state courts, and Michigan State already has five more ongoing Title IX investigations to look into Nassar's possible assaults on women.
"I think I will always regret that it had to be done this way, but there was something more important than what I wanted," Denhollander said to the State Journal in regard to her public battle. "And what was more important was that he was stopped, that the culture of abuse was challenged, and the women who were living in silence could come forward."
Nassar, who was indicted on federal child pornography charge in December, was suspended from the university the day after Denhollander's complaint and was fired by the university less than a month later.
- Scooby Axson
