Dr. Larry Nassar, former U.S. Olympic gymnastics athletic physician and Michigan State University faculty member, will be spending the rest of his life in prison. The despicable doctor used his position of trust and authority to sexually assault more than 150 young women. According to Vox, the women he attacked were a range of ages, from below 13 years old to 18. Four of the cases were under the age of 16, and three of them were below the age of 13. 

According to The New York Times, by pleading guilty to the charges, Nassar admitted that, as a doctor, he took advantage of his authoritative position and “coerced them [the victims] to submit to the penetration.” Nassar would assault his victims by penetrating their vaginas or anuses with his fingers without gloves on as well as massage their breasts, during which he would have a noticeable erection.

Nassar read an apology letter to the court. However, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina was rightfully unmoved. By the closing of the trial, Aquilina told Nassar, “It is my honor and privilege to sentence you. You do not deserve to walk outside a prison ever again.” Nassar was then sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison, and in an additional federal case, he was given 60 years in prison for child pornography. Although Nassar’s imprisonment should provide suitable justice, it does. Nassar is the criminal, but he is not the only guilty party. 

One may wonder how a person can get away with sexually assaulting so many women, and apparently, it is not that hard. According to national statistics, 1 in 4 women will be sexually assaulted during their lifetime, so when will people start taking the issue more seriously? According to Indianapolis Star and their extensive investigation, it was revealed that after reports against Nassar were brought to the recognition of the U.S. Olympic organization,  it was over five weeks before the police were even contacted. Additionally, the case was tossed between FBI field offices until April of 2016, 10 months after the organization officially knew. That being said, Michigan State was at fault as well. It was discovered that over 10 MSU officials knew about the allegations against Nassar, who had been complained about by eight different young women, one of whom contacted the local police.

This was all years before Nassar was arrested. These things, however, got brushed over, and consequencentially, 150 women will never be the same. 

Sexual assault has always been a problem, but obviously not one taken seriously enough. Hearing about cases with victims in the double or triple digits should be a wake-up call to our society that we need to be more vigilant, take the complaints and the reports more seriously, and assure victims that when they step forward, it will not simply be swept under the rug to protect a prominent university or athletic organization.

Photo provided by US Department of Agriculture via flickr