McKayla Maroney: Larry Nassar Abused Me 'Hundreds of Times'
Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney said says former USA gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar abused the first time she met him and that he abused her "hundreds" of times.
Maroney spoke to NBC News for an interview that is scheduled to air Sunday night.
"He said that nobody would understand this and the sacrifice that it takes to get to the Olympics. So you can't tell people this," Maroney said.
Maroney met Nassar at the Karolyi Ranch in Texas when she was 13.
"He told me he was going to do a checkup on me and that was the first day I was abused," she said, adding that Nassar abused her every time they met.
Maroney signed a nondisclosure agreement as part of a confidential $1.25 million settlement in December 2016 saying she would not discuss her sexual abuse allegations. USA Gymnastics later said it would not seek money from Maroney after she spoke out.
Maroney's attorney filed a lawsuit on her behalf against USA Gymnastics accusing the organization of hiding Maroney's sexual abuse allegation against Nassar from the public, with the United States Olympic Committee, Nassar and Nassar's former full-time employer, Michigan State University being named as defendants.
Two months before the lawsuit was filed, Maroney revealed on social media that she had been abused by Nassar starting when she was 13.
Nassar was later sentenced up to 175 years on Michigan state charges of sexual assault, to go along with a sentence of 40 to 125 years in prison on three counts of sexual assault with another 60–year sentence on federal child pornography charges.
