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Victims of gymnastics doctor blame university

Posted at 3:44 PM, Nov 22, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-22 15:44:38-05

LANSING, Mich.  — Athletes who were sexually assaulted by a former gymnastics doctor say Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee failed to stop the abuse and allowed dozens more girls to be molested.

Larry Nassar pleaded guilty Wednesday in a Michigan courtroom. Accusers and their lawyers, who have sued the institutions, spoke at a news conference afterward.

Attorney John Manly criticized an internal probe being conducted at Michigan State and urged Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette to reconsider expanding his criminal probe to include school officials who allegedly knew of Nassar's misconduct. He called on the university to release documents showing "who knew what when."

"These young women and these girls deserve justice," Manly said.

Nassar is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 12 and faces at least 25 years in prison.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Michigan State University spokesman Jason Cody released the following statement:

“As they have done before, today the plaintiffs’ attorneys have made accusations against the university claiming it is engaged in a ‘cover up of misconduct by university administrators.’ The university unequivocally denies this accusation. Moreover, MSU has consistently promised if it were to find any employee knew of and acquiesced in Nassar’s misconduct, the university would immediately report it to law enforcement.

As for the call for an independent investigation, the FBI and MSU Police Department conducted a joint investigation earlier this year to determine whether any university employee other than Nassar engaged in criminal conduct. The results of that investigation were sent to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan. We have no reason to believe that any criminal conduct was found.
Michigan State University continues to be shocked and appalled by Larry Nassar’s now-admitted criminal conduct. Any suggestion that the university covered up this conduct is simply false."