Larry Nassar speaks with his attorney Matt Newburg during the plea hearing on Nov. 22, 2017, at the Veterans Memorial Court at 313 W Kalamazoo St., Lansing. Nassar pleaded guilty to seven counts.
Ex-MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar will appear in federal court Thursday for his sentencing for three charges related to child pornography — charges that could land Nassar a combined prison sentence of 22-27 years.
The charges include the receipt, possession and destruction of more than 37,000 child pornography files, including some GoPro videos of Nassar molesting children. Nassar pleaded guilty to these three charges in July.
Nassar won't be sentenced for anything related to the abuse of athletes under the guise of medical treatment on Thursday — those sentence hearings have been scheduled for January following two different plea deals in state county courts.
However, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice in July, the judge in this case "may consider the full scope of Nassar’s misconduct when determining the appropriate sentence, including uncharged misconduct."
Nassar pleaded guilty to seven first-degree counts of criminal sexual conduct in Ingham County on Nov. 22 and he pleaded guilty a week later to three first-degree counts of criminal sexual conduct in Eaton County. For each of those 10 charges, Nassar faces a minimum of 25-40 years in prison.
At the sentencing hearings for those cases, survivors of abuse will be able to speak and give victim impact statements. There are 125 women who have the potential to speak if they so choose.
The Thursday sentencing in federal court will be the first of Nassar's three total sentence hearings. Jan. 12 marks the sentence hearing for the Ingham County case and Jan. 31 will be the sentence hearing for the Eaton County case.
Nassar is accused of sexually abusing more than 140 women and girls, ranging from local gymnasts to Olympic athletes, under the guise of medical treatment.
He was arrested in December 2016 on charges of possessing “at least 37,000” images of child pornography to which he pleaded guilty. His sentencing for the receipt, possession and destruction of child pornography is set for Dec. 7 in federal court.
In November 2017, Nassar pleaded guilty to a total of 10 first degree criminal sexual conduct charges in Ingham County and Eaton County. His sentence hearings for these charges, which could range from a minimum of 25-40 years to life in prison per count, are scheduled for January 2018.
Nassar is also a defendant in nine lawsuits, all of which also list MSU, MSU's board of trustees and USA Gymnastics as defendants.
Stay with The State News for coverage of the sentencing Wednesday and for other news on ex-MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. Other stories on survivors and cases can be found under the 'Larry Nassar coverage' tag on our website.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
