INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A prosecutor is praising an Indiana newspaper for exposing a former sports doctor’s sexual abuse of gymnasts.
Michigan Assistant Attorney General Angela Povilaitis spoke at the sentencing hearing Wednesday for Larry Nassar, saying that the case proves society needs “investigative journalists more than ever.”
Nassar has admitted abusing gymnasts at Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians. He was sentenced Wednsday to 40 to 175 years in prison in a case involving seven victims.
Former gymnast Rachael Denhollander alerted The Indianapolis Star to Nassar’s abuse after reading the newspaper’s 2016 investigation of how USA Gymnastics handled sexual abuse allegations against coaches.
Povilaitis told the judge that without Denhollander and the newspaper, Nassar “would still be practicing medicine, treating athletes and abusing kids.”
